J.  Henry  Senger 


STUDY  OF   THE   SECTS. 


BY 

WILLIAM   H.  LYON. 


One  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all, 
and  in  vou  all.  —  KPHKSIANS  iv.  6. 


SECOND     KDITIOtf. 


BOSTON: 

UNITARIAN   SUNDAY-SCHOOL   SOCIETY, 
25  BEACON  STREET. 

1891. 


4, 


V 


Copyright,  1891, 

TH>C  UNl.rARlAH    SUNDAY-SCHOOL   SOCIETY 


IN  MEMORIAM 


o-V 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  manual  has  been  prepared  at  the  request  of  the 
Unitarian  Sunday-School  Society  for  the  use  of  the  older 
classes  in  the  schools  to  which  that  valuable  body  minis- 
ters. It  may  also  be  found  useful  to  adult  readers.  Its 
aim  is  to  present  on  the  one  hand  a  just  and  sympathetic 
account  of  the  history  and  beliefs  of  the  various  bodies 
considered,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  show  plainly  wherein 
Unitarians  differ  from  them ;  to  counteract  the  bigotry 
and  conceit  from  which  Unitarians  have  by  no  means  freed 
themselves,  and  at  the  same  time  to  show  how  weak  and 
inconsistent  is  the  position  of  those  Unitarians  who  are 
anxious  to  have  it  understood  that  there  is  not,  after 
all,  much  difference  between  them  and  their  Evangelical 
brethren.  The  fundamental  idea  of  this  book  is  that  the 
difference  between  the  two  parties  is  as  great  as  that 
between  the  Evangelicals  and  the  Catholics,  or  would  be 
if  our  Orthodox  friends  would  stand  still  long  enough  to 
be  photographed  distinctly.  The  study  of  this  subject 
and  the  consultations  I  have  had  with  various  representa- 
tive men  have  surprised  me  by  revealing  the  state  of  con- 
fusion and  change  in  which  all  beliefs  except  those  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  now  exist.  Few  of  those  who  claim  to 
hold  the  faith  of  their  fathers  are  aware  how  far  they  have 

926471 


iv  PREFACE. 

drifted  from  that  faith,  or  what  chameleon  powers  words 
have  to  assimilate  themselves  to  the  mental  environment 
of  succeeding  generations. 

Realizing  the  danger  of  misrepresenting  the  beliefs  of 
others,  I  have  submitted,  so  far  as  I  could,  the  various 
chapters  to  revision  by  prominent  members  or  friends  of 
the  sects  treated  in  them,  and  have  in  every  case  ac- 
cepted the  corrections  made.  This  is  true  of  the  chapters 
on  the  Jews,  Roman  Catholics  (doctrine  only),  Episco- 
palians, Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Methodists,  Friends, 
Universalists,  Unitarians,  and  Spiritualists.  I  am  thus 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  Messrs.  RAPHAEL  LASKER,  RICHARD 
BEAGLE,  L.  W.  SALTONSTALL,  A.  L.  PLUMB,  D.D.,  R.  J. 
ADAMS,  Bishop  R.  S.  FOSTER,  D.D.,  C.  C.  HUSSEY, 
E.  L.  REXFORD,  D.D.,  GRIND  ALL  REYNOLDS,  and  M.  J. 
SAVAGE. 

The  entire  chapter  on  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture 
was  written  by  Mr.  W.  M.  SALTER,  and  the  doctrinal  part 
of  the  one  on  the  New  Church  by  the  Rev.  J.  K.  SMYTH. 
I  am  also  greatly  indebted  to  the  Rev.  H.  G.  SPAULDING, 
Secretary  of  the  Sunday-School  Societ}7,  for  many  sugges- 
tions and  much  aid  in  putting  the  book  through  the  press, 
and  to  the  unknown  but  acute  and  learned  proof-readers 
of  the  University  Press  for  valuable  corrections  in  both 
form  and  matter. 

The  word  sect  is  used  in  no  frrvidious  sense,  but  as  a 
convenient  term  for  the  parts  into  which  the  Christian 
body  is  actualty  divided  or  dissected.  The  words  Evan- 
gelical,  Orthodox,  and  the  like  are  employed  in  their 
popular  sense,  without  any  concession  of  their  literal 
truth ;  nor  must  the  word  Liberal  be  construed  as  imply- 
ing that  the  only  liberality  in  religion  is  to  be  found  in 
the  bodies  so  named. 


PREFACE.  y 

The  manifold  nature  of  the  subject  has  involved  an 
amount  of  labor  not  likely  to  be  appreciated  by  any  one 
who  has  not  attempted  something  of  the  same  kind.  Yet 
the  necessity  of  giving  to  it  only  the  fragments  of  a  busy 
life  may  well  have  left  it  lacking  in  unity  as  well  as 
mistaken  on  single  points.  As  I  review  the  extent  of 
ground  covered  and  the  number  of  questions  answered 
which  have  puzzled  the  saints  and  the  ages,  I  fear  to  draw 
upon  myself  the  latter  half  of  the  judgment  pronounced 
upon  Whewell,  that  "science  was  his  forte,  and  omnisci- 
ence his  foible."  Still  more  do  I  tremble  at  my  temerity 
in  daring  to  state  the  belief  of  Unitarians,  which  I  have 
done  against  my  wish  and  at  the  request  of  the  Society 
which  publishes  the  manual.  Yet  some  such  book  seems 
to  be  needed,  — •  is  certainly  demanded ;  and  this  may 
serve  till  a  better  one  takes  its  place. 

W.  H.  LYON. 

THE  STUDY  OF  ALL  SOULS  CHURCH, 
ROXBURY,  May  1,  1891. 


NOTE    TO    SECOND    EDITION. 

The  only  change  of  importance  in  this  edition  is  in  the  remarks 
on  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  pp.  180,  181.  While  I  am  grate- 
ful for  the  unexpectedly  cordial  reception  which  this  book  has  found 
with  both  the  religious  and  the  secular  press,  I  am  sure  there  must  be 
errors  which  a  more  careful  reading  might  have  detected.  I  shall  be 
sincerely  grateful  for  any  corrections  which  may  be  suggested  to 
me. 

W.  H.  L. 

ROXBURY,  Sept.  16,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.  — THE  JEWS.  i 

PABT  II.— THE  CHRISTIANS. 
CHAPTER 
I.    DOCTRINES  HELD  BY  CHRISTIANS 13 

1.  Creeds,  13.  —  2.   Source  of  Authority,  17.  —  3.  God,  22.  — 

4.  Jesus,  24.  —  5.  Human  Nature,  29.  —  6.  Salvation,  33. 
— 7.  The  Future  Life,  39.  —  8.  The  Church  and  the  Sacra- 
ments, 45. 

II.    THE  ROMAN  CATHOLICS 52 

III.  THE  OLD  CATHOLICS 62 

IV.  THE  EASTERN  CHURCH 64 

V.    THE  PROTESTANTS 69 

Section  I.  —  The  Evangelical  Protestant  Sects. 

I.  The  Lutherans,  77.  — 2.  The  Reformed  Church,  82.  — 3.  The 
Episcopalians,  85.  —  4.  The  Reformed  Episcopalians,  96.  — 

5.  The  Presbyterians,  99.  —6.  The  Congregationalists,  109. 
—  7.  The  Baptists,  119.  —8.  The  Moravians,  125.  — 9.  The 
Methodists,  127.  — 10.   The  Salvation  Army,  135. 

Section  II.  —  Certain  other  Protestant  Sects. 

1.  The  Anti-Sectarian   Sects,   137.  —  2.  The   Friends,  140.  — 
3.  The  New  Church,  147. — 4.  The  Adventists,  154. 

Section  III.  —  The  Liberal  Protestant  Sects. 

1.  The  Universalists,  158.  —  2.   The  Unitarians,  163. 

PART  III. 

SECTS  NOT   CALLING   THEMSELVES    CHRISTIAN. 

1.  The  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,   179.  —  2.   The   Spiritual- 
ists, 18L  —  3.   The  Mormons,  187. 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 


PART  I. 
THE   JEWS. 

WHOSE  is  the  adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving 
of  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises;  whose  are  the  fathers, 
and  of  whom  is  Christ  as  concerning  the  flesh.  —  ROMANS  ix.  4,  5. 

Name.  —  The  Jews  were  originally  called  by  others  Hebrews, 
or  u  those  who  came  over,"  because  Abram  and  his  family  came 
over  the  Euphrates  down  into  Canaan  (Gen.  xii.  5).  They  called 
themselves  Children  of  Israel,  after  Jacob,  or  Israel  (Gen.  xxxii. 
28),  from  whose  sons  or  grandsons  the  Twelve  Tribes  were  said 
to  have  descended.  After  the  Captivity  they  were  called  Jews, 
a  name  at  first  given  to  the  Tribe  of  Judah,  TOO  formed  the  chief 
part  of  those  who  were  carried  into  exile  at  Babylon,  and  who 
returned  to  found  the  nation  as  we  know  it. 

History.  —  The  word  Jew  is  applied  to  a  nation  and  to  a 
religion.  Until  the  last  century  all  Jews  by  oirth  were  Jews  by 
religion  also,  but  since  that  time  a  rapid  divergence  in  beliefs 
has  taken  place.  Tt  is  the  religion  which  we  have  especially  to 
consider. 

The  Jews  belong  to  that  branch  of  the  human  race  called  the 
Semitic,  of  which  the  Arabs,  Assyrians,  and  Phoenicians  were 
also  members.  They  are  therefore  of  different  descent  from  most 
of  the  nations  among  whom  they  dwell,  who  are  of  the  Aryan 
family,  —  a  difference  which  has  probably  had  something  to  do 
with  their  isolation.  From  the  Semitic  races  have  come  three  of 
the  great  religions, —  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Mohammedanism. 

1 


2  A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 

The  history  of  the  Jewish  religion  may  be  divided  roughly  into 
three  periods,  formation,  affirmation,  and  reformation,  or,  accord- 
ing to  their  distinctive  marks,  sacrificial,  Scriptural,  and  rational. 

The  period  of  formation  extends  from  the  beginning  to  the 
return  from  exile.  The  family  of  Abram  came  down  from  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees  to  Canaan,  and,  migrating  thence,  grew  to  a  tribe, 
and  settled  upon  the  borders  of  Egypt,  from  which  they  were  led 
out  by  Moses,  who  made  Jehovah,  or  Jahweh,  their  distinctive 
God,  and  gave  them  as  law  the  "  Ten  Commandments"  and  a  few 
ceremonial  precepts.  Coining  back  into  Canaan,  their  religion  was 
much  corrupted  and  confused  by  contact  with  the  worship  of  other 
gods,  whose  existence  they  acknowledged,  though  they  claimed 
Jehovah  as  the  most  powerful.  Worship  consisted  almost  entirely 
of  sacrifices,  offered  during  their  wandering-time  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, but  after  David  had  made  Jerusalem  the  fixed  capital,  in 
the  Temple.  Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  period  a  remarkable 
class  of  men.  the  Hebrew  Protestants,  arose,  called  "  prophets,'* 
or  "  spokesmen,"  —  in  their  own  tongue,  "seers," — who  strove 
to  hold  the  people  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah  only,  and  to  make 
that  worship  consist  of  a  just  and  pure  life  as  well  as  of  ceremo- 
nies. These  elements  were  still  contending  when  the  Exile  ended 
the  national  existence. 

When  the  Jews,  comparatively  few  in  number,  returned 
(B.C.  536),  they  were  marvellously  changed.  Their  religion 
gathered  less  and  less  around  the  altar,  but  more  and  more  around 
the  Book,  Separated  from  their  Temple  and  its  sacrifices,  they 
had  still  many  of  their  sacred  writings;  and  their  zeal  had  cen- 
tred in  the  minute  study  of  these.  The  Temple  was  rebuilt, 
indeed,  and  the  sacrifices  restored  on  a  magnificent  scale;  but 
synagogues,  or  meeting-houses,  rose  all  over  the  land,  in  which  the 
reading  and  exposition  of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  became  the 
centre  of  interest ;  and  by  the  side  of  the  priests  and  Levites,  who 
conducted  the  sacrificial  worship,  rose  the  scribes,  lawyers,  rabbis, 
etc.,  who  were  students  of  the  sacred  books,  and  the  Pharisees, 
Sadducees,  Zealots,  etc.,  who  were  divided  on  their  application. 
Idolatry  had  disappeared  forever;  and  Jehovah  became  to  all,  not 
merely  the  most  powerful  national  god,  but  the  only  God  of  the 


A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  O 

world.  As  His  chosen  and  peculiar  people,  the  Jews  proudly 
withdrew  from  all  unnecessary  intercourse  with  the  "  Gentiles," 
or  nations,  and  forbade  intermarriage  with  them  ;  while  as  a  con- 
solation for  political  subjection  to  them,  they  clung  tenaciously  to 
their  belief  in  a  Messiah,  or  "anointed  one"  of  God,  who  should 
subdue  the  nations,  and  make  His  people  the  masters  and  teachers 
of  the  world.  There  had  also  crept  in  or  been  developed  a  belief 
in  immortality,  in  angels  and  devils,  and  in  the  divergent  destiny 
of  the  good  and  the  wicked,  which  to  most  meant  respectively 
Jews  and  Gentiles. 

The  appearance  of  Jesus  made  no  appreciable  difference  in  this 
religion,  except  to  intensify  it  under  the  persecution  by  his  later 
followers.  Christianity  became  a  religion  of  the  Gentiles.  The 
destruction  of  the  Temple  with  Jerusalem,  in  70  A.D.,  not  only 
dispersed  the  surviving  Jews  over  the  world,  but  put  an  end 
to  the  sacrificial  side  of  their  religion.  It  lived  henceforth  only  in 
the  synagogue  and  the  home,  and  only  as  a  religion  according  to 
the  Scriptures.  The  Books  became  a  bond  between  the  dispersed 
and  persecuted  communities,  and  received  a  wonderful  but  morbid 
microscopic  study.  The  comments  of  vafious  revered  rabbis 
were  collected  into  a  second  work,  called  the  Talmud,  which 
became  almost  as  sacred  as  the  original  books.  The  first  part  of 
thi?,  the  Mischna,  or  commentary  on  the  text,  was  finished  about 
A.D.  200  ;  and  the  second,  the  Gemara,  or  commentary  on  the  first 
part,  about  A.D.  400.  To  keep  the  text  of  the  Law  pure  through 
all  copying,  there  grew  up  the  Masora,  or  study  of  the  form, 
under  the  care  of  learned  men  called  Masorites.  The  shameful 
persecution  of  the  Jews  during  the  Middle  Ages,  their  pathetic 
fidelity  to  each  other  and  to  their  religion,  and  the  development 
of  their  national  characteristics  should  be  carefully  read,  but  does 
not  belong  here. 

The  third  period,  the  reformative  or  rational,  came  on  slowly, 
and  has  become  distinct  only  in  the  last  hundred  years.  The 
Reformation  brought  the  Jews  little  mercy  at  first,  though  the 
revived  prominence  of  the  Bible  led  to  the  study  of  Hebrew,  but 
the  growth  of  kindlier  sentiments  and  broader  views  in  general 
have  gradually  freed  the  Jews  from  all  political  disabilities,  and 


4  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

set  the  national  talents  free  for  a  development  which  has  been  no 
less  than  wonderful  But  the  change  in  their  religion,  thus  opened 
to  the  influences  of  modern  thought,  has  been  as  great.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  more  intelligent  have  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the 
Talmud,  and  a  large  and  increasing  part  treat  even  the  Law  in  a 
free,  rationalizing  way,  agreeing  with  the  most  radical  of  the  Gen- 
tile scholars  in  the  treatment  of  the  questions  of  inspiration,  mira- 
cle, and  the  like.  Though  the  national  consciousness  and  loyalty 
are  still  marvellously  strong,  they  are  melting  at  their  outward 
edges ;  and  the  race  may  in  time  be  amalgamated  with  the  rest 
of  mankind. 

Doctrine.  —  As  the  Jews  own  no  authority  above  the  individual 
congregation,  they  have  no  common  formal  creed.  The  varia- 
tions in  their  belief  are  very  great,  ranging  from  the  extreme 
"  orthodox,"  who  have  kept  the  faith  almost  if  not  quite  intact, 
to  the  extreme  "  reformed,'1  who  are  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  rationalistic  theists  or  even  agnostics.  Converts  to  Chris- 
tianity are  extremely  rare. 

The  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Jews  in  Jesus'  day  were  the  one 
God,  the  "chosen  people,  ?  the  Messiah,  and  the  divine  origin  and 
authority  of  their  sacred  books,  especially  the  Pentateuch,  or  Law. 
Of  these,  the  lofty  and  pure  though  severe  and  cold  idea  of  God 
has  been  held  against  modern  trinitarianism,  as  against  ancient 
polytheism.  That  the  Jews  are  His  chosen  and  favored  people, 
destined  to  rule  the  world,  is  a  belief  that  is  rapidly  dying,  though 
still  held  by  the  more  ignorant  in  the  Old  World.  It  survives, 
however,  in  an  almost  universal  pride  of  race  and  of  its  history, 
which  shows  itself  especially  in  refusal  to  marry  with  "  Gentiles," 
and  even  to  be  buried  in  the  same  cemetery  with  them.  The  ex- 
pectation of  a  Messiah,  or  political  and  religious  leader,  who 
shall  be  sent  by  God  to  gather  His  people  into  Palestine  again 
to  begin  their  rule  of  the  world,  has  even  more  completely  dis- 
appeared. The  ''Mosaic'5  Law,  though  treated  by  many  "re- 
formed" Jews  with  great  latitude  of  interpretation  and  practice, 
has  still  a  great  hold  upon  the  race  as  a  whole.  It  is  always  read 
at  public  worship,  partly  in  Hebrew.  The  Sabbath  is  observed 
upon  the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  beginning  at  sunset  on  Friday 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  5 

and  ending  at  sunset  on  Saturday,  but  generally  only  as  a  day  of 
public  worship,  to  the  men  usually  nominal.  The  commandment 
to  do  no  work  on  that  day  is  found  by  all  but  extreme  orthodox 
Jews  impossible  to  obey  in  Christian  lands.  It  is  proposed  to 
change  the  Sabbath  to  Sunday.  Circumcision  is  commonly  prac- 
tised. The  distinction  between  "  clean  "  and  u  unclean  '*  meats 
(Lev.  xi.)  is  still  regarded,  at  least  in  the  home ;  and  the  only 
flesh  eaten  is  that  killed  by  men  approved  by  the  rabbis,  so  that 
the  blood  ("  which  is  the  life  ")  is  surely  drained  out.  A  most 
remarkable  change,  however,  is  the  entire  abolition,  or  rather 
silent  abandonment,  of  the  sacrificial  system,,  once  the  centre  of 
public  worship,  but  made  impossible  by  the  banishment  of  the 
Jews  from  their  own  land  and  its  Temple,  and  their  scattered  and 
persecuted  condition.  On  the  other  hand,  belief  in  immortality 
and  its  corollaries,  which  have  been  noticed  as  added  to  the  an- 
cient beliefs  before  Jesus'  day,  are  still  retained.  Of  course,  the 
denial  of  Jesus'  Messiahsh'p  carries  with  it  denial  of  all  the 
theology  which  has  grown  up  around  it  in  most  Christian  creeds, 
—  the  incarnation,  atonement,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  authority  of  the 
New  Testament. 

/  The  modern  Jew  holds  his  public  worship  in  "  synagogues,"  or 
"temples.'1  It  is  liturgical,  consisting  of  prayers,  some  very  an- 
cient, but  varying  in  different  books ;  reading  from  the  Law  and 
from  the  Prophets,  which  are  divided  into  lessons  for  the  purpose; 


• 


a  sermon,  and  a  benediction.  The  worshipping  body  is  called  a 
"  congregation,"  and  consists  nominally  only  of  men  who  are  heads 
of  families,  ten  at  least  being  necessary,  and  is  governed  by 
trustees  with  president,  etc.,  like  most  corporations.  In  very 
u  orthodox  "  synagogues,  the  women  sit  apart  in  a  gallery,  which 
is  sometimes  latticed.  There  is  usually  a  Sabbath-school. 
u  Various  religious  festivals  are  observed,  as  the  New  Moon  ;  the 
New  Year  (about  September  6)  ;  the  Passover  (in  March  or  April, 
like  our  Easter)  ;  Pentecost,  or  Feast  of  Weeks  (May),  com- 
memorating the  giving  of  the  Law  from  Mount  Sinai ;  the  Feast 
of  Booths,  or  Tabernacles;  and  Purim  (March),  which  celebrates 
the  Jewish  victory  recounted  in  the  Book  of  Esther. 


6  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

The  debt  of  Christianity  to  Judaism  is  seldom  fully  appreciated. 
It  was  the  hardy  stock  into  which  the  graft  that  was  to  overshadow 
the  world  was  set.  That  the  Jews  did  not  appreciate  Jesus  when 
he  came  is  no  more  strange  or  culpable  than  the  resistance  of 
Human  Catholicism  to  Protestantism,  of  Lutheran  ism  to  Calvin- 
ism, of  Calvinism  to  Methodism,  or  of  the  old  faith  generally  to 
the  new  one  that  is  born  from  it.  A  frank  study  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets  also  shows  how  little  resemblance  Jesus  bore  to  the 
Messiah  actually  predicted  by  them,  though  it  reveals  how  much 
affinity  often  exists  between  his  teaching  and  theirs  upon  the 
nature  of  religion. 

From  Judaism  Christianity  inherited  the  conception  of  a  pure 
and  single  God ;  the  belief  in  immortality ;  the  custom  of  preach- 
ing as  a  part  of  worship,  and  indeed  the  general  elements  of  public 
service  ;  the  Sabbath ;  the  Ten  Commandments ;  and  many  of 
its  finest  precepts,  as  some  of  ihe  Beatitudes,  The  defects  of 
Judaism  which  Christianity  filled  up  were  the  cold  separation 
of  God  from  His  creation,  and  especially  from  the  human  soul,  and 
the  separation  of  religion  from  the  common  duties  and  affections 
of  hfe.  The  God  of  the  Hebrews  was  far  superior  to  the  sensual 
gods  of  the  nations  around  them  and  to  the  half-human  gods  of 
even  the  classic  nations.  Though  severe,  He  was  holy  and  rev- 
erend, and  far  above  such  deeds  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
attributed  to  their  deities.  The  Christian  idea  of  His  Fatherhood, 
by  which  His  own  life  was  conceived  to  be  in  the  souls  of  men, 
inheriting  this  nobility  of  conception,  has  brought  God  near  to 
men  without  degrading  Him  or  making  Him  common  ;  and  the 
Christian  idea  that  u  the  true  liturgy  and  undefined  before  God  the 
Father"  is  daily  a«'ts  of  love  and  self-respect,  has  made  rel:gion  a 
warm  and  living  thing.  As  we  shall  see,  however,  the  popular 
Christianity,  in  concentrating  worship  upon  Jesus,  has  again  set 
God  at  a  distance  as  a  stern  and  implacable  King,  while  it  has 
degraded  religion  often  into  a  repetition  of  Jewish  ritualism  and 
ceremonial  pettiness. 

The  treatment  of  the  Jews  by  "Christians"  is  one  of  the 
worst  stains  upon  medieval  and  modern  history,  as  it  has  been  in 
direct  violation  of  the  spirit  and  even  of  the  precepts  of  him  who 
said,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
The  vitality  of  the  Hebrew  stock  through  all  persecutions  and 
the  brilliancy  of  its  modern  sprouting  and  blooming  are  evidence 
of  the  vigor  of  the  stem  inro  which  Christianity  was  grafted. 
The  peculiarities  at  which  Christians  are  so  incensed  are  largely 
the  result  of  the  treatment  they  have  given ;  but  if,  as  seems 
likely,  there  is  to  be  an  amalgamation  of  life,  if  not  of  belief, 
both  will  be  gainers. 


A  STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  7 

In  secular  life  the  Jews  are  remarkable  for  their  aversion  to 

/'trades  and  agriculture  (a  great  change  from  their  ancient  ways, 

\and  due  to  their  exclusion   from   guilds  and  the  like  durhig  the 

Middle  Ages)  and  their  aptness  for  financial  and  mercantile  life. 

They  have  many   brilliant  representatives  in  literature,  art,  and 

music,  —  such  as  MtmiLdssolin  ,  .Hjejlie,  l^jjiTiieJi,  the  liothscjiuUig, 


. 

and  many  others  of  note.  Their  home-1'fe  is  very_  pu,i:e  and 
domestic.  They  care  fur  their  own  pour  must  generously,  and  are 
remarkable  for  their  general  health  —  due  to  •*  Mosaic  "  precepts 
largely  —  and  freedom  from  _  intemperance  and  ,  crime. 

To  Unitarians  the  reformed  Jews  especially  are  intellectually 
akin  by  their  emphasis  upon  the  unity  of  God,  upon  the  spirit 
rather  than  the  letter  of  the  Bible,  and  upon  character  rather  than 
creed,  as  well  as  by  the  rapid  progress  they  are  making  toward  a 
purer  and  more  rational  t  heist  ic  religion.  Between  many  Jews  of 
this  type  and  many  Unitarians  there  is  warm  sympathy.  Between 
the  *'  orthodox,"  or  ritualistic,  Jews  and  the  Unitarians  the  resem- 
blance is  only  superficial,  and  the  agreement  as  to  the  one  God 
only  arithmetical. 

Statistics.  —  There  are  reckoned  to  be  about  7,000,000  Jews 
in  the  world,  the  largest  number  in  any  one  country  being 
2,552,000  in  Russia.  They  are  rapidly  increasing  in  the  United 
States  from  immigration,  nearly  125,000  having  come  .  between 
1885  and  1889.,  most  of  them  from  Russia  and  Poland  ;  and  there 
are  probably  in  this  country  over  half  a  million  in  all. 


QUESTIONS. 

By  what  different  names  have  the  Jews  been  known  ?  When  did  these 
names  arise  ?  What  do  they  mean  ?  Into  what  periods  is  their  religious 
history  divided?  What  kind  of  a  religion  had  they  in  the  first  period? 
What  is  a  sacrifice  ?  Do  we  make  sacrifices  now?  What  is  there  in  com- 
mon  between  theirs  and  ours  ?  Who  were  the  prophets  ?  Can  you  name 
any?  What  did  they  teach  ?  What  do  you  know  about  the  Exile  ?  What 
changes  had  come  over  the  re'igion  ?  What  do  you  call  the  second  period  ? 
What  were  "  the  Scriptures"  to  the  Jews?  Do  they  believe  in  the  New 
Testament  ?  Why  not  ?  What  other  books  did  the  Jews  study  ?  What 
can  you  tell  about  the  persecutions  of  them  ?  Were  they  just?  Are  they 
continued  to-day  in  any  form?  What  is  the  third  period?  What  is  its 
characteristic?  What  do  you  mean  by  "rationalism"?  Name  any  dis- 
tinguished Jews  o.f  our  day.  What  do  you  think  of  the  Jews  you  know? 
How  far  are  Christians  to  blame  for  anything  that  is  disagreeable  in  them  ? 


8  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

Is  there  unity  of  belief  among  modern  Jews?  Why  not  ?  What  is  the 
basis  of  doctrine?  Plow  does  the  Hebrew  Bible  differ  from  ours?  What 
variation  of  opinion  about  it  exists  among  them?  As  to  God,  are  they 
Unitarian  or  Trinitarian?  How  do  they  regard  Jesus?  Do  they  expect 
any  other  Messiah  ?  What  do  they  think  about  future  destiny  ?  What  is 
their  Sabbath  ?  What  can  you  say  of  their  worship  ?  What  festivals  do 
they  hold  ?  What  peculiar  views  have  they  as  to  food  ?  As  to  burial  ? 
Marriage  ?  How  are  their  congregations  organized  ?  What  are  their 
meeting-houses  called  ?  What  part  do  women  take  in  worship  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  best  handbook  is  The  History  of  the  Religion  of  Israel,  by  Crawford 
H.  Toy,  Unitarian  Sunday-School  Society.  See  also  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,  articles  "Israel"  and  '•  Jews."  Stanley's  picturesque  Lectures  on 
the  Jewish  Church,  3  vols.,  end  at  the  Christian  Era;  Milman's  History 
of  the  Jews,  3  vols.,  brings  the  story  nearly  to  the  present  day;  J.  K. 
Hosmer's  J  he  Story  of  the  Jews  gives  interesting  sketches  of  mediaeval 
and  modern  Jewish  history  and  biography.  For  a  most  graphic  epitome 
of  mediaeval  Judaism  and  the  reform  movement,  see  North  American 
Review,  vol.  cxxv.,  two  articles  by  Prof.  Felix  Adler;  also,  from  the  Jewish 
point  of  view,  Outlines  of  Jewish  History,  by  Lady  Magnus.  Solomon 
Schindler's  Messianic  Expectations  and  Modern  Judaism,  and  Dissolving 
Views  in  the  History  of  Judaism,  are  from  the  extreme  "reformed" 
standing-point. 

For  the  relation  between  the  two  religions,  see  Prof.  C.  H.  Toy's  Judaism 
and  Christianity :  a  Sketch  of  the  Progress  of  Thought  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  the  New. 


A  STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 


PART  II. 

THE    CHRISTIANS. 
REFERENCES  ON  THE  GENERAL   SUBJECT. 

The  best  mere  abstract  is  J.  II.  Allen's  Outline  of  Christian  History, 
Unitarian  Sunday-School  Society.  The  best  short  history  is  Prof.  G.  P. 
Fisher's  Histoiy  of  the  Christian  Church.  If  but  one  book  can  be  bought, 
it  should  be  this  or  the  first  volume  of  Prof.  Philip  Schaff's  The  Creeds  of 
Christendom.  The  latter  contains  the  "  History  <  f  Creeds,"  with  a  valuable 
comparison  of  the  doctrines  of  the  great  branches  of  the  Church;  vol.  ii. 
contains  the  "Greek  and  Latin  Creeds,"  and  vol.  iii.  the  "  Evangelical 
Creeds."  For  charming  accounts  of  the  rise  of  the  sects  which  began  in 
England,  see  Green's  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  and  Brooke 
Herford's  Story  of  Religion  in  England.  The  cyclopaedias  of  McClintock 
and  Strong  and  of  Schaff-Herzog ,  Blttnt's  Dictionary  of  Sects,  Heresies, 
and  Schisms  ;  Lyman  Abbott's  Dictionary  of  Ri  liyh,us  Knowledge;  many 
articles  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  ;  the  histories  of  Neander,  Milman, 
Schaff,  Gieseler,  and  Bar.r,  and  for  doctrine  Hagenbach's  and  Shedd's,  — 
are  also  valuable.  See  also  Dorchester's  Christianity  m  the  United  States. 
A  very  valuable  bibliography,  both  on  the  general  subject  and  on  special 
periods  and  movements,  is  at  the  end  of  Fisher. 

BY  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love 
one  to  another.  —  JOHN  xiii.  35. 

Name.  —  The  name  "  Christian "  was  not  used  till  several 
years  after  the  death  of  Jesus,  and  then  at  Antioch  (Acts  xi.  26), 
a  heathen  city,  and  probably  as  a  nickname.  Before  that  his  fol- 
lowers were  called  "disciples,"  "brethren,"  "believers,"  "saints  " 
by  themselves,  and  "Nazarenes"  or  "  Galileans"  by  others.  The 
word  "Christian"  is  derived  from  the  title  "Christ,"  which  is  a 
Greek  translation  or  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  word  Messiah, 
or  "  anointed  one,"  given  to  Jesus  as  the  true  realization  of  the 
Jewish  national  expectation  of  a  divinely  sent  deliverer  and 
teacher. 


10  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

History  —  The  history  of  Christianity  properly  begins  with 
the  first  preaching  of  its  founder,  Jesus,  who  having  been  born 
probably  about  4  B.C.,  became  known  to  the  public  about  A.D.  26 
or  27  Rejected  by  the  religious  authorities  of  his  nation,  he 
soon  began  to  preach  in  the  open  air;  but  after  a  career  the 
length  of  which  is  variously  estimated  from  one  to  three  years,  he 
was  cruc'ified  by  the  Roman  authorities  at  the  demand  of  the 
Jews,  probably  in  March,  A  D.  30. 

Hardly  a  score  of  years  had  passed  when  a  division  took  place 
among  his  followers  which  it  is  very  important  to  notice.  It  was 
the  division  between  ritual  and  spiritual  religion.  We  have  found 
it  between  the  Hebrew  priests  and  prophets,  and  it  runs  through 
all  Christian  history.  The  first  Christians  were  little  more  than 
a  small  Jewish  sect,  clinging  to  the  laws  of  Moses  and  worshipping 
in  the  Temple.  They  differed  from  the  other  Jews  mainly  in  the 
belief  that  the  Messiah  had  come  and  that  Jesus  was  he.  The 
persecution  which  arose  after  the  preaching  and  death  of  Stephen 
drove  them  from  Jerusalem,  scattered  them  among  the  Gentiles, 
and  brought  them  into  contact  with  wider  and  higher  thought. 
A  more  spiritual  Christianity  was  the  fruit  of  this  union ;  and  it 
embodied  itself  first  in  Saul,  or  Paul,  who  denied  the  necessity 
of  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic  Law, — an  external  matter, 
"dead  works,"  —  and  based  Christianity  upon  faith,  an  act  of  the 
soul.  Bitter  dissension  arose,  ending  at  last  in  a  compromise 
(see  Paul's  story  in  Galatians).  But  the  two  kinds  of  religion 
remained,  and  can  be  traced  down  to  our  own  day.  Mosaic 
'Christianity,  or  the  Christianity  of  Peter,  died  away;  but  its  spirit 
passed  into  the  more  splendid  ritual  and  priesthood  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  whose  head  is  claimed  to  be  Saint  Peter.  Spirit- 
ual Christianity,  or  the  Christianity  of  Paul,  though  it  gained 
the  victory  at  first,  disappeared  under  Catholicism  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  to  emerge  in  the  Protestant  Reformation,  whose 
motto,  "The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  and  whose  general 
spirit  came  from  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  The  same  fundamental 
difference  may  be  traced  between  Protestant  sects,  and  between 
parties  in  those  sects,  from  the  Anglican  ritualist  to  the  silent 
44  Quaker.51 


A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  11 

The  first  great  division  in  the  body  of  Christianity  was  the 
secession,  or  excommunication,  of  the  Eastern  Church,  in  1051, 
which  was  due  more  to  national  than  to  doctrinal  causes.  Then 
Western  Christianity  divided,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  into 
Catholic  and  Protestant.  These  three  great  branches  must  be 
now  considered  separately. 

Government.  —  In  government,  Christians  may  be  divided  into 
episcopal,  or  those  under  the  authority  of  bishops;  synodical,  or 
those  controlled  by  representative  bodies ;  and  congregational,  or 
those  who  own  no  human  power  above  the  individual  church, 
t>r  congregation.  The  first  class  is  by  far  the  most  numerous, 
including  Roman  and  Greek  Catholics,  most  Methodists,  the 
Episcopalians,  and  the  Moravians.  The  second  class  includes 
Lutherans,  Presbyterians,  Reformed,  many  Methodists,  and  smaller 
sects.  The  third  class  includes  Baptists,  Congregationalists, 
Christians,  Friends,  Adventists,  and  Unitarians. 

Another  division  might  be  made  into  those  who  do  and  those 
who  do  not  believe  in  one  visible  church.  The  first  of  these 
classes  would  include  the  first  two  of  the  previous  division,  the 
second  of  these  would  coincide  with  the  third. 

Statistics,  —  There  are  in  the  world  about  452,000,000  Chris- 
tians, as  against  340,000,000  Buddhists,  201,000,000  Moham- 
medans, 175,000,000  Brahmins,  80,000,000  Confucians,  14,000,000 
Shintos,  7,000,000  Jews,  and  —  if  the  entire  population  of  the 
globe  be  reckoned  as  1,434,000,000 — 165,000,000  "  heathens." 
Less  than  one  third  of  humanity  is  thus  Christian. 

Of  the  452,000,000  Christians,  210,000,000  are  Roman  Catholic, 
92,000,000  Greek,  and  150,000,000  Protestant. 


Who  are  entitled  to  the  name  "  Christian  "  is  a  much  vexed 
question.  In  popular  usaire  it  signifies  anything  that  is  good. 
Many  sects  deny  it  to  all  who  do  not  hold  their  interpretation  of 
Christianity.  If  the  question  were  settled  by  votes,  the  Roman  < 
Catholics  would  have  the  plurality;  but  if  it  were  decided  by  the 
common  meaning:  of  such  adjectives,  Christian  would  m^an  agree- 
ing with  Christ  in  the  main  points  of  his  teaching.  A  Darwinian 
or  an  Hegelian  is  not  one  who  believes  every  word  that  Darwin 


12  A    STUDY    OP   THE   SECTS. 

or  Hegel  has  said,  but  one  who  accepts  the  main  principles  of  the 
scientist  or  philosopher,  or  at  least  his  characteristic  principle. 
Unitarians  maintain  that  they  are  Christians  because  they  believe 
in  the  main  principles  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  —  as  the  unity 
and  spiritual  nature  of  God,  His  fatherhood  to  all  men,  the  duty 
of  men  to  love  Him  and  each  other,  the  sure  reward  of  goodness 
and  punishment  of  wickedness,  and  the  life  after  death.  Whether 
these  beliefs  were  original  with  him  or  not,  they  were  by  him 
made  effectual  upon  the  world,  —  especially  upon  those  from 
whom  we  are  descended  as  to  religion.  Certainly  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian does  not  compel  acceptance  of  what  Paul  said,  or  what  the 
writer  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  said,  or  what  any  one  else  said  who 
seems  to  have  added  to  the  original  utterances  of  Jesus,  or  re- 
ported or  interpreted  them  in  a  way  which  seems  now  to  have 
been  wrong.  In  a  more  interior  and  spiritual  sense,  to  be  a 
Christian  is  to  live  the  life  of  love  which  was  the  characteristic 
of  Jesus.  This  is  the  definition  which  he  himself  is  said  to  have 
given  to  discipleship. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  was  the  origin  of  the  name  "Christian'*  ?  What  does  it  mean? 
What  sort  of  Christians  were  the  first  disciples  ?  Ought  we  to  wish  for  a 
restoration  of  "  primitive  Christianity"  ?  Who  changed  this  ?  What  did 
he  teach V  What  is  the  fundamental  division  of  religion?  What  other 
manifestations  of  spiritual  Christianity  besides  that  of  Paul  ?  What  was  the 
first  great  division  in  the  body  of  Christendom  ?  How  did  Western  Chris- 
tianity divide?  How  does  this  division  stand  to-day?  What  was  the 
first  division  of  Protestantism  ?  How  is  Protestantism  commonly  divided 
to-day  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  these  names  ?  Under  which  would 
you  put  the  Presbyterians  ?  Universalists  ?  Episcopalians?  Methodists? 
Friends?  Unitarians?  What  are  the  three  sources  of  authoritj"  ?  How 
are  Christians  divided  as  to  government?  How  in  numbers?  Are  Chris- 
tians or  heathens  the  more  numerous  ?  What  difference  of  opinion  exists 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  name  Christian  ?  What  should  guide  us?  Are 
Unitarians  Christians  ?  Can  one  doubt  the  miraculous  birth  or  resurrection 
and  he  a  Christian  ?  Why  ?  What  did  Jesus  say  of  discipleship  to  himself  V 
Which  is  the  deeper  likeness,  that  of  belief  or  that  of  character  ? 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  13 

CHAPTER    I. 
DOCTRINES   HELD  BY  CHRISTIANS. 

REFERENCES  FOR  THE  DOCTRINES  IN  GENERAL. 

THE  points  of  agreement  and  disagreement  between  the  larger  divisions 
of  Christendom  are  summed  up  in  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  919-930.  For  exposi- 
tion at  greater  length,  see  Hagenbach's  History  of  Doctrines ;  Shedd's  His- 
tory of  Christian  Doctrine ;  E.  H.  Hall's  Orthodoxy  and  Heresy  in  the 
Christian  Church  ;  and  articles  in  McClintock  and  Strong.  Schaff-Herzog, 
Britannica,  and  other  cyclopaedias.  Calvin's  Institutes  of  the  Christian 
Religion  and  the  works  of  the  leading  theologians  of  the  various  sects  — 
as  Pond,  Hovey,  Foster,  Wesley,  etc.  — are  also  useful.  For  liberal  Angli- 
can views,  see  Haweis's  Thoughts  for  the  Times,  Stanley's  Christian  Insti- 
tutions, and  Momerie's  sermons.  For  Unitarian  opinions,  see  Hedge's 
Reason  in  Reliywn,  Clarke's  Truths  and  Errors  of  Orthodoxy  and  his  Ideas 
of  the  Apostle  Paul,  G.  E.  Ellis's  Half-Century  of  Unitarian  Controversy, 
the  tracts  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  and  the  published  sermons 
of  Channing,  Dewey,  Clarke,  Chadwick,  Savage,  and  others. 


1.    CREEDS. 

Our  little  systems  have  their  day; 

They  have  their  day. and  cease  to  be; 

They  are  but  broken  lights  of  thee, 
And  thou,  O  Lord,  art  more  than  they.  —  Tennyson* 

The  word  "  creed  "  is  derived  from  the  Latin  credo,  "  I 
believe,"  and  is  used  to  designate  a  formal  statement,  usually 
authoritative,  of  belief  on  religious  subjects.  All  Christian  bodies 
have  creeds  except  the  Friends,  the  Unitarians,  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,  the  "  Christians,"  the  Christian  Union,  and  some  smaller 
sects.  The  Methodists  have  no  formal  creed,  but  a  virtual  one 
in  certain  standards  which  are  regarded  as  authoritative.  The 
Congregationalists  and  Baptists,  with  other  congregational  bodies, 
hold  to  the  right  of  each  church  to  formulate  its  own  statement  of 
faith.  Many  Unitarian  churches  have  "covenants/'  or  other 


14  A    STUDY    OP   THE   SECTS. 

statements  of  belief  and  purpose ;  but  they  are  often  of  no  prac- 
tical use,  and  are  never  intended  to  express  exhaustively  or  to 
limit  in  any  way  the  belief  of  the  signer. 

THE   FIRST  CREEDS. 

NATHANAEL'S  (John  i.  49).  —  "Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of 
God;  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel." 

PETER'S  (Matt.  xvi.  16).  —  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God." 

PAUL  AND  SILAS'S  (Acts  xvi.  31).  —  "Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

THE  THREE  GENERAL  CREEDS. 

These  are  either  formally  or  tacitly  acknowledged  in  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Evangelical  Protestant  Churches. 

I.  The  Apostles'  Creed.  —  This  name  came  from  the  legend 
that  the  creed  was  composed  by  the  twelve  Apostles,  each  con- 
tributing a  clause,  or  article,  beginning  with  Peter.  This  was 
believed  till  two  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  now  certain  that  the 
creed  first  took  shape  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  in  the 
Western  Church,  attained  its  present  form  at  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century,  if  not  later,  and  was  formally  adopted  in  the  eighth. 
For  an  interesting  table  showing  its  growth,  and  also  for  many 
statements  of  belief  between  it  and  those  in  the  New  Testament, 
see  Srhaff,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  11-40. 

"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth. 

"  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  begotten  Son,  our  Lord,  who  was 
conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried  ;  he  de- 
scended into  hell ;  the  third  day  he  rose  again  from  the  dead  ;  he 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty ;  from  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead. 

u  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  holy  catholic  Church,  the 
communion  of  saints,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  resurrection  of 
the  bodv,  and  the  life  everlasting.  Amen. " 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  15 

QUESTIONS. 

Is  there  any  Trinity  here  ?  Any  deity  of  Christ  ?  Inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  ?  Atonement  ?  Predestination  ?  Eternal  torment  V  How  do 
you  account  for  the  lack  of  these  important  doctrines  in  so  early  a  creed  ? 
What  does  the  word  catholic  mean  ?  The  resurrection  of  the  body?  How 
much  of  this  creed  can  a  Unitarian  accept  ? 

II.  The  Nicene  Creed.  —  This  is  so  called  from  the  Council 
of  Nicaea,  in  Asia  Minor,  by  which  its  first  form  was  adopted  as 
a  decision  against  the  Arians,  325.  The  clauses  after  "I  believe 
in  the  Holy  Ghost"  were  added  later,  and  formally  adopted  by 
the  Council  of  Chalcedon  in  381.  The  words,  "and  the  Son," 
were  illegally  added  by  a  Western  Council  in  589,  and  became  a 
cause  of  division  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches.  The 
circumstances  amid  which  the  creed  arose  naturally  led  to  stress 
on  the  divinity  of  Jesus  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  a  Greek, 
or  Eastern,  as  the  Apostles'  was  a  Latin,  or  Western,  creed. 

"  I  believe  in  one  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible. 

•4  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God, 
begotten  of  the  Father  before  all  worlds,  God  of  God,  Light  of 
Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one 
substance  with  the  Father;  by  whom  all  things  were  made;  who 
for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation  came  down  from  heaven,  and  was 
incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made 
man,  and  was  crucified  also  for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate ;  he 
suffered  and  was  buried;  and  the  third  day  he  rose  again,  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures,  and  ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father  j  and  he  shall  come  again  with  glory 
to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  whose  kingdom  shall  have 
no  end. 

"  And  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  Life, 
who  proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;'  who  with  the 
Father  and  the  Son  together  is  worshipped  and  glorified  ;  who 
spake  by  the  Prophets.  And  I  believe  in  one  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church;  I  acknowledge  one  Baptism  for  the  remission 
of  sins ;  and  1  look  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  life 
of  the  world  to  come.  Amen."  . 


16  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

III.  The  Athanasian  Creed.  —  This  name  arose  from  the 
belief  that  the  creed  was  composed  by  Athanasius,  the  defender  of 
the  divinity  of  Christ  at  the  Council  of  Nicsea,  325.  But  it  is  now 
certain  that  the  creed  did  not  appear  till  the  close  of  the  eighth 
century.  It  was  of  Latin  origin,  and  is  much  used  in  the  Roman 
Church.  The  Church  of  England  ordains  its  use  on  thirteen 
festival  days  in  place  of  the  Apostles'  Creed;  but  it  is  much  dis- 
liked. The  American  Episcopalians  omitted  it  from  their  Prayer- 
Book  ;  but  it  is  proposed  to  restore  it  for  use  four  times  a  year. 
It  is  too  long  and  tedious  to  give  in  full,  but  a  few  clauses  will 
show  its  tone :  — 

"  1.  Whosoever  will  be  saved  :  before  all  things  it  is  necessary 
that  he  hold  the  Catholic  Faith  : 

"  2.  Which  faith  except  every  one  do  keep  whole  and  undefiled: 
without  doubt  he  shall  perish  everlastingly. 

"  3.  And  the  Catholic  Faith  is  this  :  That  we  worship  one  God 
in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity ; 

"4.  Neither  confounding  the  Persons:  nor  dividing  the 
Substance. 

"15.  So  the  Father  is  God:  the  Son  is  God:  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  God. 

u  16.    And  yet  they  are  not  three  Gods  :  but  one  God. 

"  29.  Furthermore  it  is  necessary  to  everlasting  salvation  :  that 
he  also  believe  rightly  the  Incarnation  o*f  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  30.  For  the  right  Faith  is,  that  we  believe  and  confess  :  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the.  Son  of  God,  is  God  and  Man : 

"31.  God,  of  the  Substance  of  the  Father;  begotten  before 
the  worlds:  and  Man,  of  the  Substance  of  his  Mother,  born  in 
the  world. 

"32.  Perfect  God:  and  perfect  Man,  of  a  reasonable  soul  and 
human  flesh  subsisting. 

44  33.  Equal  to  the  Father,  as  touching  his  Godhead  :  and 
inferior  to  the  Father  as  touching  his  Manhood. 

u  37.  For  as  the  reasonable  soul  and  flesh  is  one  man;  so  God 
and  Man  is  one  Christ." 


A   STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  17 


REFERENCES. 

The  first  chapter  of  Schaff's  work  states  the  arguments  for  creeds. 
For  the  creeds  themselves,  see  the  whole  work.  A  summary  of  them 
forms  the  last  chapter  in  Shedd.  Good  essays  in  Stanley's  Christian  In- 
stitutions, chaps.  12  and  14.  A  little  book  of  tine  spirit  is  Phillips  Brooks's 
Toleration.  The  Unitarian  view  is  given  in  Dr.  Channing's  The  System  of 
Exclusion  and  Denunciation  in  Religion  (American  Unitarian  Association 
Tract  122  in  First  Series),  and  Extracts  from  a  Letter  on  Creeds,  and  in 
most  statements  of  Unitarian  belief. 


Q.    THE   SOURCE   OF   AUTHORITY. 

Out  from  the  heart  of  Nature  rolled 
The  burdens  of  the  Bible  old ; 

The  word  unto  the  prophet  spoken 

Was  writ  on  tables  yet  unbroken; 

The  word  by  seers  or  sibyls  told 

In  groves  of  oak  or  fanes  of  gold 

Still  floats  upon  the  morning  wind, 

Still  whispers  to  the  willing  mind.  —  Emerson. 

All  Christians  rely  upon  human  reason  to  some  extent.  But 
the  reason  finds  limits  beyond  which  it  cannot  go.  —  subjects  upon 
which  it  is  not  competent  to  decide.  It  must  then  ask  whether 
there  is  any  authority  higher  than  itself  which  can  decide  for  it, 
and  to  the  decision  of  which  it  will  bow  even  when  it  cannot  un- 
derstand that  decision,  or  when  it  shrinks  from  it.  The  Roman 
Catholic  and  the  Evangelical  Protestant  answer  this  question  in 
the  affirmative.  The  Roman  Catholic  maintains  that  God  has 
established  upon  the  earth  an  institution  called  the  Church,  whose 
function  is  to  instruct  men  upon  those  religious  subjects  which  He 
beyond  their  own  ken  and  yet  are  of  vital  importance.  This 
Church  was  founded  by  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  God  the  Son,  who 
proved  his  divine  nature  and  office  by  his  miracles,  and  who  con- 
stantly guides  and  instructs  his  Church.  Moreover,  by  this  Church 
the  revelations  made  to  various  men  before  and  at  the  time  of  Christ 

2 


18  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

have  been  gathered,  protected,  guaranteed,  and  are  interpreted.- 
44  We  indeed  devoutly  receive  the  whole  Bible  as  the  word  of 
God,"  said  Cardinal  Newman  ;  "but  we  receive  it  on  the  author- 
ity of  the  Church ;  and  the  Church  has  defined  very  little  as  to 
the  aspects  under  which  it  comes  from  God  and  the  limits  of  its 
inspiration.  .  .  .  Not  the  Bible,  but  the  Church,  is  to  him  [the 
Catholic]  the  oracle  of  revelation.  Though  the  whole  Scripture 
were  miraculously  removed  from  the  world  as  if  it  had  never 
been,  grievous  as  the  calamity  would  be,  he  would  still  have 
enough  motives  and  objects  for  his  faith.  Whereas  to  the 
Protestant  the  question  of  Scripture  is  one  of  life  and  death." 

The  Reformers  swept  the  authority  of  the  Church  entirely  out 
of  their  religious  system,  and,  though  after  some  wavering  and 
confusion,  established  the  Bible  in  its  place  as  the  sole  "  oracle  of 
revelation."  They  were  driven,  by  the  necessity  of  opposing  to 
the  supernatural  Church  an  authority  of  equal  divineness  and 
infallibility,*  to  make  the  most  extreme  claims  for  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  even  declaring  the  Hebrew  vowel-points  to  be  of 
divine  origin.  Luther  held  views  which  even  now  would  be  called 
lax.  Calvin,  however,  drew  the  lines  closer;  and  the  Westminster 
Confession  asserted  that  "  the  whole  counsel  of  God  ...  is  either 
expressly  set  down  in  Scripture,  or  by  good  and  necessary  con- 
sequence.may  be  deduced  from  Scripture:  unto  which  nothing  at 
any  time  is  to  be  added,  whether  by  new  revelations  of  the  Spirit 
or  traditions  of  men."  The  Bible  became  to  the  Puritan  his 
guide,  not  only  in  religion,  but  in  affairs  of  State  and  in  the  most 
private  matters.  In  place  of  the  Church  as  interpreter,  the  Prok 
estant  put  the  Holy  Spirit.  Reason  might  decide  upon  the  cre- 
dentials of  the  Scriptures,  but  the  appreciation  of  their  inner  and 
saving  meaning  could  come  only  by  "the  inward  illumination  of 
the  Spirit  of  God."  In  the  view  of  Calvinkts  this  illumination 
could  come  only  to  the  elect,  and  indeed  was  one  proof  of  their 
election. 

The  Unitarian  joins  with  other  Protestants  in  decisively  reject- 
ing the  authority  of  the  Church.  That  Jesus  founded  any  such 
institution  as  this  pretentious  ritualistic  organization  Feoms  too 
absurd  to  need  refutation.  Its  history  is  the  answer  to  its  claims. 


A    STUDY    OP   THE   SECTS.  19 

As  to  the  Bible,  Unitarians  have  varied  somewhat  in  their 
estimate  of  its  authority.  The  early  Protestant  view  was  de- 
termined largely  by  the  accompanying  view  of  the  corruption 
and  helplessness  of  human  nature,  reason  included.  As  this 
false  view  has  retired,  the  reason  has  come  to  the  front,  and 
claimed  greater  rights.  But  the  first  Unitarians  in  New  England 
were,  or  thought  they  were,  as  firm  believers  in  the  authority  of 
Scripture  as  their  Trinitarian  opponents.  Yet,  for  the  most  part 
unconsciously,  they  had  adopted  principles  of  interpretation  which 
were  at  war  with  the  old  view.  Both  these  facts  are  seen  in  these 
words  of  Dr.  Channing  :  "  Whatever  doctrines  seem  to  us  to  be 
clearly  taught  in  the  Scriptures  we  receive  without  reserve " 
(Unitarian  Christianity)  ;  "All  those  interpretations  of  the  Gos- 
pel which  strike  the  mind  at  once  as  inconsistent  with  a  right- 
eous government  of  the  universe,  which  require  of  man  what  is 
disproportionate  to  his  nature,  or  which  shock  any  clear  conviction 
which  our  experience  has  furnished,  cannot  be  viewed  with  too 
jealous  an  eye"  (Preaching  Christ).  In  the  latter  passage  lie 
the  germs  of  that  reliance  upon  reason  and  conscience,  and  that 
freedom  from  unreasonable  and  unmoral  subjection  to  mere  textual 
authority,  which  have  borne  fruit  in  Parker,  Emerson,  and  the 
majority  of  the  Unitarian  teachers  of  to-day.  They  recognize  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,  but  look  upon  revelation  as  progressive, 
according  to  the  increasing  capacity  of  men  to  receive  the  truth. 
Many  passages  in  the  Bible  seem  to  them  of  supreme  and  unsur- 
passed value  to  the  soul.  Yet  they  look  upon  inspirat:on  as  not 
confined  to  any  period,  but  as  acting  still,  revealing  both  new 
depths  in  the  old  truths  and  new  views  of  the  divine  nature  and 
action.  The  sole  criterion  of  truth,  when  it  cannot  be  fully 
demonstrated  by  the  reason,  is  satisfaction  of  the  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual  needs  of  human  life.  What  seems  beyond 
the  reach  of  reason  and  conscience  and  contrary  to  the  deepest 
instincts  of  the  soul  was  not  intended  to  be  known,  or  is  not 
yet  ready  for  human  use.  In  this  belief  in  the  continuance 
of  inspiration  the  Unitarian  feels  himself  justified  by  the  last 
words  of  Jesus  to  his  dbciples  :  "  I  have  many  things  to  tell  you, 
but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of 


20  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth."  In  reality, 
however,  all  Protestants  qualify  Scripture  by  the  use  of  their 
own  reason.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  degree  and  often  of 
frankness. 

Moreover,  the  old  Protestant  view  of  the  infallibility  of  Scrip- 
ture is  not  warranted  by  Scripture  itself.  It  rose  out  of  the 
exigencies  of  controversy.  A  few  simple  facts,  admitted  by  all, 
are  decisive  :  (1)  The  Bible  never  speaks  of  itself  as  a  whole. 
This  is  to  be  expected  from  the  fact  that  it  was  a  gradual  growth, 
an  aggregation  of  books,  generally  having  no  relation  one  with 
another  nor  even  so  much  as  referring  to  one  another.  The  word 
"  Scripture,"  as  used  in  the  New  Testament,  refers  to  the  Old 
Testament,  the  New  not  yet  having  been  collected.  The  infalli- 
bility of  the  Bible,  therefore,  is  not  and  cannot  be  a  doctrine 
asserted  in  the  Bible.  (2)  Nor  do  the  separate  books  claim  divine 
warrant,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  prophetical  writings 
and  some  sayings  of  Paul.  The  inspiration  of  Genesis,  for  in- 
stance, has  been  thrust  upon  it;  it  claims  no  divine  authority 
for  itself.  (3)  Most  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  are  anonymous. 
The  authorship  named  in  their  titles  is  the  guess  of  the  trans- 
lators, not  the  assertion  of  the  writers.  (4)  We  have  no  guaran- 
tee that  the  books  of  the  Bible  have  come  down  to  us  unharmed. 
The  original  manuscripts  have  all  disappeared  ;  and  the  oldest 
copy  of  any  part  of  the  New  Testament  does  not  date  back  of 
300.  Had  God  meant  us  to  rely  upon  words,  He  would  have 
made  those  words  certain  beyond  doubt.  (5)  Jesus  never  wrote 
a  word  of  his  Gospel,  and  made  no  provision  whatever  for  hav- 
ing it  written.  That  he  should  have  left  it  to  the  oral  teaching 
of  his  disciples  for  a  generation,  then  to  be  committed  to  four 
varying  accounts,  all  of  uncertain  authorship,  is  inconceivable 
upon  the  old  theory  of  the  value  of  texts. 

No  one  who  comprehends  the  real  weight  of  these  simple  facts, 
which  are  generally  hidden  in  a  cloud  of  petty  arguments,  can 
hold  to  the  old  theory  of  the  Bible  ;  yet  whoever  reads  the  Bible, 
not  in  a  state  of  suspended  intellectual  animation,  but  with  soul 
awake  to  the  light  of  God  on  its  mountain  summits,  will  see  that 
it  is  indeed  "The  Book." 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  21 


QUESTIONS. 

How  do  Christians  agree  as  to  the  use  of  reason  ?  Who  acknowledge 
an  authority  beyond  its  limits  ?  What  is  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  authority? 
of  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  ?  How  far  could  the  Catholic  dispense  with 
the  Bible  V  What  was  the  position  of  the  Reformers  toward  the  Church  ? 
toward  the  Bible?  What  was  Luther's  view  ?  Calvin's  ?  that  of  the  West- 
minster Confession  ?  What  was  the  Protestant  principle  of  interpretation  ? 
the  Calvinist? 

What  does  the  Unitarian  say  of  the  Church  V  What  view  of  human 
nature  modifies  his  view  of  reason?  How  did  the  first  Unitarians  use  the 
Bible  ?  What  change  has  come  ?  What  is  the  view  of  inspiration  now 
common  among  Unitarians?  What  do  they  say  of  what  lies  beyond  human 
ken?  What  is  their  sole  criterion  of  truth  ?  What  words  of  Jesus  fore- 
shadow the  continuance  of  inspiration?  Was  the  old  Protestant  view  of 
Scripture  warranted  by  the  Bible  itself?  How  did  it  arise?  Does  the 
Bible  ever  speak  of  itself  as  a  whole  ?  Why  ?  What  follows  from  this 
as  to  the  doctrine  of  Biblical  infallibility  ?  What  do  the  separate  books 
claim  for  themselves  ?  What  must  be  said  of  their  authorship  ?  What 
guarantee  have  we  of  their  preservation  ?  What  did  Jesus  write  ?  Why  ? 
Do  Unitarians  still  speak  of  the  Bible  as  "  The  Book  "  ?  Why  ?  Of  what 
use  is  the  Bible  to  you  ?  What  parts  do  you  like  most  to  read  ?  What  has 
been  its  influence  upon  the  world? 

REFERENCES. 

The  Catholic  view  of  authority  may  be  found  in  Newman's  Apologia  pro 
mea  VHn,  which  all  Protestants  should  read.  The  early  Protestant  position 
is  stated  in  Calvin's  Institutes,  book  I.,  chaps,  vi.-x.,  and  in  chapter  i.  of 
the  Westminster  Confession.  For  a  striking  illustration  of  the  change 
which  has  come  over  many  of  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  see  What  is 
the  Bible?  by  Prof.  0.  T.  Ladd.  For  the  Unitarian  views,  see  Dr.  Chan- 
ning's  sermons  on  '•  Unitarian  Christianity,"  "Preaching  Christ,"  and 
"The  Church  ;"  Andrews  Norton's  Evithnc.es  of  the  Genuineness  of  the 
Bible;  Theodore  Parker's  A  Discourse  of  Matters  pertaining  to  Rdigion, 
books  iv.  and  v.  ;  J.  W.  Chadwick's  The  Bible  of  To-day;  J.  T  Sunder- 
land's  Whnt  is  the  Bible?  M.  J.  Savage's  Beliefs  about  the  Bible;  F.  H. 
Hedge's  Ways  of  the  Spirit;  and  James  Martineau's  Authotity  in  Religion, 
especially  book  ii.,  in  which  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  positions  are  very 
fairly  stated.  For  shorter  statements,  see  American  Unitarian  Association 
Tracts,  Fourth  Series,  Nos.  69  and  80,  and  J.  F.  Clarke's  tract  among  the 
"Miscellaneous." 


22  A   STUDY    OP    THE   SECTS. 


3.     GOD. 

O  Source  divine,  and  Life  of  all, 

The  Fount  of  being's  wondrous  sea! 
Thy  depth  would  every  heart  appall 

That  saw  not  Love  supreme  in  thee.  —  Sterling. 

All  Christians  believe  that  there  is  but  one  God,  and  that  He 
is  infinitely  powerful,  wise,  and  loving.  All  Christians  except 
Unitarians,  Universalists,  "Christians,"  and  the  "Hicksitc" 
Friends,  believe  also  in  a  Trinity  within  this  unity.  The  common 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  thus  defined  in  the  Athanasian  Creed: 
u  We  worship  one  God  in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity;  neither 
confounding  the  Persons  nor  dividing  the  Substance.  For  there 
is  one  Person  of  the  Father,  another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  But  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all  one  :  the  Glory  equal,  the  Majesty 
co  eternal." 

This  doctrine  is  nowhere  distinctly  stated  in  the  Bible.  The 
word  "  Trinity  "  do^s  not  occur  at  all,  nor  any  word  corresponding 
to  it.  This  all  admit.  The  texts  which  have  been  quoted  in 
favor  of  the  dogma  from  the  Old  Testament  deserve  no  considera- 
tion whatever.  In  the  New  Testament  one  text  has  stated.it 
(1  John  v.  7,  8)  ;  but  this  has  long  been  known  to  be  spurious, 
and  is  omitted  from  the  Revised  Version.  The  strongest  text 
remaining  is  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20;  but  as  many  Trinitarians  admit 
(Meyer,  McClintock),  no  equality  or  divinity  or  unity  of  substance 
is  here  expressed  any  more  than  in  the  common  phrase,  "  Peter 
and  James  and  John."  The  fact  that  no  distinct  and  decisive 
proclamation  of  so  new  and  startling  a  doctrine  is  anywhere  made 
in  the  New  Testament  is  conclusive  against  its  truth.  The 
Catholic  theologians  frankly  say  that  the  Trinity  is  one  of  the 
doctrines  which  only  the  Holy  Spirit,  acting  through  the  Church^ 
not  the  individual's  judgment,  can  find  in  the  Scriptures. 

It  was  only  gradual  y  that  the  doctrine  took  shape,  and  probably 
by  contact  with  Greek,  and  especially  Alexandrian,  philosophy. 
It  is  not  in  the  Apostles'  Croed.  Its  strongest  support  came  from 


A    STUDY    OP   THE   SECTS.  23 

the  growing  belief  in  the  deity  of  Jesus,  which  is  considered 
under  another  head.  The  Greek  word  trlas,  or  "  triad,"  which  does 
not  necessarily  involve  unity  of  substance,  does  not  occur  till  after 
170;  and  the  Latin  word  (rinilas  is  not  found  till  Tertullian  wrote, 
after  200.  A  strong  Unitarian  party  (that  is,  asserting  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Father's  essence  or  substance)  existed  in  the  Church 
till  after  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  in  325,  pronounced  for  the  deity 
of  Christ.  The  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  seems  never  to  have 
been  very  much  discussed  or  very  strongly  asserted  until  the 
Athanasian  Creed  appeared.  The  Nicene  Creed  was  changed 
without  authority  in  589,  so  that  the  Spirit  was  said  to  proceed 
"  from  the  Father  and  the  Son"  —  an  addition  which  was  one  of 
the  causes  of  the  secession,  or  excommunication,  of  the  Greek 
Church. 

The  Trinity  remained  the  universal  doctrine  until  the  Reforma- 
tion, when  it  was  questioned,  among  others,  by  Michael  Servetus 
and  by  Laelius  and  Faustus  Socinus.  The  tendency  among 
modern  Trinitarians  is  to  assert  the  doctrine  as  a  revealed  fact, 
without  attempt  to  explain  it.  Such  explanations  have  often 
brought  to  light  great  differences  of  opinion,  amounting  in  many 
cases  to  tritheism  on  the  one  hand  and  utter  destruction  of  the 
equality  on  the  other.  The  modern  Unitarians,  of  course,  deny 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  any  and  every  sense. 

QUESTIONS. 

On  what  are  all  Christians  agreed  as  to  God  ?  Who  do  not  believe  in  the 
Trinity?  Try  to  state  that  doctrine.  Where  is  it  stated  m  the  Bible? 
Where  was  it  ever  stated  V  What  is  the. strongest  text  now  V  What  does 
it  really  mean  ?  What  do  you  infer  from  the  lack  of  clear  statement  ? 
How  did  the  doctrine  arise?  What  is  the  most  important  element  in  it? 
How  soon  do  any  words  alleged  to  denote  it  appear  ?  When  was  it  officially 
adopted  ?  When  was  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  asserted  ?  What  un- 
warranted thing  was  done  ?  Who  denied  the  doctrine  at  the  Reformation? 
What  is  the  tendency  of  modern  Trinitarians  ?  What  do  the  Unitarians 
think  of  the  doctrine  ?  May  not  God  act  in  many  ways  ?  Must  we  restrict 
them  to  three  ?  But  do  manifestations  imply  persons  ?  Do  you  think  the 
doctrine  would  have  any  influence  on  you,  if  you  could  believe  it  ? 

(For  references,  see  under  next  head.) 


24  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 


4.    JESUS. 

O  Love !  O  Life  !  our  faith  and  sight 

Thy  presence  maketh  one  ; 
As  through  transfigured  clouds  of  white 

We  trace  the  noonday  sun,  — 

So,  to  our  mortal  eyes  subdued, 

Flesh-veiled,  but  not  concealed, 
We  know  in  thee  the  fatherhood 

And  heart  of  God  revealed.  —  Whittier. 

The  rank  and  office  of  Jesus  form  the  core  of  Christian 
doctrine.  The  point  of  separation  between  the  first  Christians 
and  Judaism  was  as  to  whether  he  was  the  Messiah  or  not ;  in  the 
belief  in  his  deity  centres  the  whole  system  of  Roman,  Greek, 
and  Evangelical  Protestant  doctrine ;  and,  rightly  understood,  the 
idea  of  "  God  in  Christ  "  is  also  the  heart  of  the  Unitarian  faith. 

It  is  impossible  to  go  into  the  full  discussion  of  Scriptural  texts; 
but  a  few  main  points  must  be  briefly  stated:  (1)  The  Jews,  who 
studied  their  Bible  (Old  Testament)  with  most  devoted  and  minute 
care,  never  dreamed  that  the  Messiah  there  predicted  was  to  be 
Jehovah  himself.  He  was  either  a  personification  of  the  righteous 
part  of  Israel  or,  later,  a  prophet  or  king  divinely  sent,  endowed, 
and  guided,  but  like  all  other  prophets  and  kings,  —  like  Moses, 
Elijah,  and  David,  —  a  man.  (2)  Those  who  heard  Jesus  never 
understood  him  to  claim  to  be  God  except  once  (John  x.  33),  when 
Jesus  promptly  disclaimed  the  title  in  any  other  sense  than  as  it 
had  been  given  to  the  ancient  Hebrew  judges ;  that  is,  as  repre- 
sentative of  God.  No  one  who  understands  how  holy,  inaccessi- 
ble, and  separate  from  humanity  the  Jews  held  God  to  be  can  fail 
to  see  that  the  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  identical  with  Him  would  have 
roused  too  great  a  tumult  to  have  escaped  record,  and  would  have 
been  made  the  centre  of  the  accusations  against  him.  The  one 
case  cited,  to  any  one  who  understands  the  nature  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  is  under  suspicion.  (3)  Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Jesus,  as  a  Jew,  was  brought  up  Unitarian,  and  any  such 
enormous  change  in  his  view  of  God  or  of  himself  must  have 


A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  25 

been  made  the  very  heart  of  his  teaching.  On  the  contrary,  the 
first  three,  or  Synoptic,  Gospels  contain  not  a  single  clear  enuncia- 
tion of  this  tremendous  assumption;  but  they  do  contain  sayings 
of  Jesus  which  imply  his  subordination  to  God,  as  Matt.  xix.  17, 
xxvi.  39-42,  xxvii.  46.  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  disclaim 
deity,  for  without  some  clear  assertion  of  it  by  himself  no  Jew 
would  have  suspected  it.  His  appearance  and  life  were  human ; 
and  nothing  short  of  irresistible  proof,  which  is  made  impossible 
by  these  naive  utterances,  can  lead  us  to  think  he  was  an)  thirig 
else.  (4)  The  Fourth  Gospel  is  evidently  not  so  much  a  narra- 
tive as  a  philosophy  of  Jesus.  The  Jesus  who  speaks  there  is  not 
the  Jesus  of  the  Synoptics,  but  a  dramatic  personification  of  the 
writer's  ideal,  —  often  beautiful  and  rich  in  spiritual  suggestion, 
but  not  drawn  from  life.  But  even  there,  while  many  passages, 
especially  those  which  come  from  the  author  himself,  as  the  first 
verses  of  the  first  chapter,  point  to  an  exaltation  of  Jesus'  nature 
above  the  human,  there  is  no  such  equality  with  the  Father  as  the 
creeds  assert,  while  on  every  page  there  are  words  ascribed  to 
Jesus  himself  which  most  clearly  imply  his  subordination  (v.  19, 
30;  vii.  16  ;  viii.  28,  etc.  As  for  x.  30,  see  xvii.  21).  (5)  The 
first  preaching  after  Jesus'  death  set  him  forth  as  a  prophet 
{Acts  ii.  22,  iii.  22,  xvii.  31).  (6)  Paul  spiritualized  his  idea  of 
Jesus,  as  he  did  every  other  point  in  Christian  belief,  —  as  bap- 
tism and  the  resurrection,  —  and  undoubtedly  assigned  to  Jesus  a 
supernatural  mission  and  endowment,  but  never  deity. 

In  short,  the  nearer  we  get  to  the  words  of  Jesus  himself,  the 
less  we  hear  of  any  exaltation  of  him  above  the  rank  of  a  prophet 
of  God. 

It  is  when  Christianity  moves  away  from  Judaism,  with  its  utter 
separation  of  God .  from  man,  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  classic 
world,  where  the  line  between  gods  and  men  was  always  vague, 
and  where  it  had  seemed  easy  to  deify  even  the  Roman  emperors, 
—  it  is  then  that  Jesus  mounts  rapidly  to  Deity.  The  remnants  of 
primitive  Christianity,  as  the  Ebionites,  retained  the  original 
belief  in  Jesus'  humanity;  but  Greek  and  Latin  Christianity  drew 
from  Greek  and  Latin  philosophy  and  theology  abundant  suste- 
nance for  the  deification  of  their  Master.  First,  however,  must 


26  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

come  a  long  struggle,  which  reached  its  climax  in  the  debate  be- 
tween Arius,  a  presbyter  of  Alexandria,  and  Alhanasius,  a  deacon 
in  the  same  city.  Anus  maintained  that  Christ  was  a  beinjr  above 
humaniiy,  but  created  by  God  out  of  different  substance  from  His 
own.  The  Senii-Arians  held  him  to  be  of  similar  substance,  but 
created  and  subordinate.  Athanasius  asserted  him  to  be  of  the 
same  substance  and  equal  in  rank.  The  Emperor  Constantino 
assembled  at  Nicaea,  in  Asia  Minor,  the  first  ''oecumenical >?  (or 
world)  council  in  325,  at  \\hich  the  Athanasian  view  prevailed  ;  and 
Arianism,  though  widely  spread,  died  away.  Then  followed  a  long 
controversy  over  the  exact  nature  of  the  union  between  the  hu- 
man and  the  divine.  Apollinaris,  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  denied  the 
humaniiy  of  Christ,  as  Arius  had  denied  his  divinity,  making  the 
divine  Reason,  or  "  Logos,"  take  the  place  of  the  human  spirit. 
The  Council  of  Alexandria  (362)  decided  that  the  two  natures, 
divine  and  human,  co-existed  in  Christ.  Then  Nestorius,  Bishop 
of  Constantinople,  denied  any  closer  union  than  this  co-existence, 
and  claimed  that  it  happened  only  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  so 
that  to  call  Mary  " Mother  of  God"  was  absurd.  The  super- 
natural union  of  the  two  natures  was  proclaimed  by  the  first 
Council  of  Ephesus,  in  431.  But  Eutyches.  of  Constantinople, 
fell  into  error  on  the  opposite  side  from  Nestorius,  uniting  the  two 
natures  so  closely  that  the  human  was  lost  in  the  divine.  The 
Fourth  Council,  at  Chalredon,  decided  that  the  two  natures  were 
united  in  one  person,  without  confusion,  change,  division,  or  sepa- 
ration, or  loss  of  properties  by  either;  but  the  Monophysite  or 
one-nature  party  were  still  active,  and  were  crushed  at  the  Council 
of  Constantinople  in  553.  Then  came  the  question  whether  there 
were  two  wills  in  the  two  natures,  the  Monothelite  party  contend- 
ing for  but  one ;  but  the  Council  of  Constantinople  in  680  affirmed 
the  two  wills,  the  divine  following  the  human.  The  "Monophy- 
sites "  and  "  Nestorians w  still  exist,  however,  as  sects  in  the 
Eastern  Church. 

So  trimmed  and  cut  back,  the  doctrine  remained  throughout 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  <rreat  Reformers  made  no  change  in  it, 
and  it  passed  over  into  '  Evangelical '  Protestantism.  But  Michael 
Servetus,  in  1531,  taught  a  human  Christ,  and  Laelius  and  Faustus 


A    STUDY    OP    THE   SECTS.  27 

Socinus  (d.  1562  and  1G04),  founded  a  large,  wealthy,  and  intel- 
lectual sect  in  Poland  on  the  doctrine  that  Christ  was  a  human 
teacher,  but  deified  after  death  for  his  holiness,  and  therefore  to 
be  worshipped.  In  England  the  subordination  of  Christ  was 
made  the  centre  of  a  separate  sect  by  Lindsey  and  others,  and  in 
the  United  States  by  Channing  and  his  co-workers.  Beginning 
with  Ai  ianism,  the  view  of  Unitarians  has  gone  on  more  or  less 
frankly  to  pure  humanitarianism. 


The  doctrine  of  the  deity  of  Jesus  has  been  of  great  service  to 
many  by  bringing  to  their  minds  and  hearts  a  God  whom  they  could 
easily  conceive  and  so  love.  That  the  infinite  and  unapproach- 
able Jehovah  should  have  come  to  this  suffering  and  sinful  earth, 
should  have  taken  upon  Himself  the  human  form,  and  submitted 
Himself  to  human  temptation  and  suffering,  touches  the  heart  by 
its  apparent  love  and  self-abnegation.  The  broader  truth  which 
underlies  this  we  are  to  see  later;  but  the  love  ot  God  is  taught  to 
many  minds  more  clearly  by  this  one  apparently  exceptional  case 
than  by  the  more  diffuse  though  truer  conception  which  is  now 
growing  upon  the  human  mind.  On  the  other  hand,  however, 
it  is  as  certain  that  the  deification  of  Jesus  has  thrus't  the 
one  true  God  into  the  background,  robbed  Him  of  His  love  and 
compassion,  which  are  transferred  to  the  Christ,  made  Him  an  im- 
placable and  exacting  jiHge.  and  narrowed  and  lowered  the  whole 
conception  of  Deity.  As  the  human  -intellect  grew  still  feebler, 
even  Christ  was  thrust  in  his  turn  into  the  background;  his  love 
and  compassion  were  transferred  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  to  the 
saints,  who  seemed  nearer  and  more  easily  apprehensible  than 
the  superhuman  Christ.  The  alternative  is  one  which  often 
meets  the  student  of  theology,  —  between  warmth  and  truth;  be- 
tween adaptability  to  immediate  need,  and  exact  and  conscientious 
conception. 

But  Unitarians  also  hold  to  the  incarnation  of  God  in  Jesus. 
They  differ  from  Evangelicals  in  denying  that  it  was  only  in 
him,  and  that  it  ceased  with  him.  They  believe,  and  it  is  the 
very  heart  of  their  religion,  that  God  is  not  only  immanent  in  the 
physical  universe,  the  One  Power  working  by  Eternal  Law,  but 
that  he  dwells  in  every  human  being,  the  giver  of  all  light  to  the 
mind,  all  love  to  the  heart,  all  life  to  the  spirit.  The  difference 
between  men  in  this  respect  is  one  of  degree,  not  of  nature.  The 
glory  of  Jesus  is  not  only  his  superiority  in  degree,  but  his  clear 
consciousness  of  his  sonship,  and  his  announcement  of  it  to  the 
world.  "  Alone  in  all  history,  he  estimated  the  greatness  of  man. 


28  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

One  man  was  true  to  what  is  in  you  and  me.  He  saw  that  God 
incarnates  Himself  in  man,  and  evermore  goes  forth  anew  to  take 
possession  of  His  world."  Hence  flows  whatever  is  distinctive  in 
Unitarianism,  as  the  doctrines  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature, 
the  internal  authority,  the  eternal  hope. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  place  does  the  belief  about  Jesus  hold  in  Christianity  V  How  can 
you  illustrate  this  ?  What  was  the  Jewish  expectation  of  the  Messiah  ? 
What  view  of  Jesus  had  those  who  heard  him  V  Was  he  ever  accused  of 
claiming  to  be  God  ?  What  was  his  answer  V  What  else  can  you  say  of 
the  passage  ?  What  do  the  Synoptic  Gospels  say  of  Jesus?  The  Fourth 
Gospel  ?  The  first  Christian  sermons  ?  Paul  V  When  does  the  doctrine 
of  his  deity  begin  to  take  shape  ?  Under  what  influences  V  What  did  the 
remnant  of  the  original  Christians  hold?  When  did  the  debate  reach  its 
climax  V  Who  were  the  two  champions  ?  Define  Arianism,  Semi-Arian- 
ism,  the  Athanasian  doctrine.  How  was  the  debate  settled?  What  was 
Apollinarianism  ?  Nestorianism  ?  Eutychianism  ?  The  Monophysite 
view  ?  The  Monothelite  ?  How  does  all  this  impress  you  ? 

How  did  the  Reformers  stand?  Who  first  taught  a  human  Christ? 
What  was  Socinianism  ?  Who  started  modern  Unitarianism  ?  What  is 
this  now  ? 

What  good  has  the  doctrine  of  the  deity  of  Christ  done  ?  What  harm  ? 
What  has  happened  to  the  worship  of  God  ?  To  that  of  Christ  ?  What  are 
the  two  points  between  which  religious  ideas  vibrate"?  What  is  the  Unita- 
rian attitude  toward  Jesus  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  him  and  other 
men  ?  How  is  our  belief  in  the  incarnation  of  God  in  humanity  relate- 1  to 
our  religious  beliefs  ?  What  difference  has  Jesus  made  to  human  history? 
What  is  he  to  you  now  ?  Examine  your  belief  frankly. 

REFERENCES. 

The  most  remarkable  book  on  the  Trinitarian  side  is  the  late  Canon 
Liddon's  The  Divinity  of  out-  Lord,  the  Bampton  Lectures  for  186fi.  The 
history  of  the  doctrine  may  be  found  in  Hagenbach  or  Shedd,  and  from  the 
Unitarian  side,  in  Lamson's  Ilis'ort/  of  the  .First  Three  Centuries,  and 
Priestley's  History  of  the  Corruptl  ns  of  Christianity.  Liddon  was  answered 
by  "A  Clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  "  (who  maintained  that  the  doc- 
trine is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Bible  by  the  unaided  reason,  but  I*  taught  on 
the  authority  of  the  Church)  and  by  Dr.  Vance  Smith.  Singular  views  of 
the  Trinity  may  be  found  in  Stanley's  Christian  Institutions,  and  Robertson's 
Sermons,  Series  III.  No.  4.  The  tracts  and  books  of  the  American  Unita- 
rian Association,  especial ly  Norton's  Statement  of  Reasons,  give  Unitarian 


A    STUDY    OF    THE   SECTS.  *J9 

views,  often  of  the  old-fashioned  textual  kind;  but  broader  ground  is 
occupied  ill  Hedge's  Reason  in  Religion  (pp.  227-247),  Cttanning  (pp.  302- 
328,  A.  U.  A.  edition),  Emerson's  Divinity  School  Address,  and  best  of  all, 
Martineau's  Authority  in  Iteliyion,  book  iv.  chap.  ii.  The  Council  of  Nicaea 
is  described  most  picturesquely  in  Stanley's  Histwy  of  the  Eastern  Church. 


5.    HUMAN   NATURE. 

It  is  not  ours  to  separate 

The  tangled  skein  of  will  and  fate, 

And  between  choice  and  Providence 
Divide  the  circle  of  events 

But  He  who  knows  our  frame  is  just, 
Merciful,  and  compassionate; 
And  full  of  sweet  assurances. 
And  hope  for  all,  the  language  is, 

That  He  remembereth  we  are  dust !  —  Whittier. 

All  Christians  except  the  Liberals  believe  that  God  created 
Adam  and  Eve  in  a  state  of  innocence,  but  needing  probation. 
The  serpent  (by  most  supposed  to  be  an  embodiment  of  Satan), 
was  therefore  allowed  to  tempt  them  to  disobedience.  They 
yielded  to  the  temptation,  and  in  consequence  of  this  "  fall "  sin 
obtained  an  irresistible  power  over  them.  Shame,  labor,  pain, 
the  pangs  of  childbirth,  and  death  entered  into  their  lives,  and 
they  were  thrust  out  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  in  disgrace.  These 
consequences  of  their  sin  have  fallen  upon  their  descendants, 
so  that  all  arc  helpless  in  the  bonds  of  inherited  corruption. 
All  that  they  do  or  can  do  is  worthless  and  even  abhorrent  in 
the  divine  eyes,  and  unless  some  aid  can  be  secured  from  a 
source  external  to  themselves,  they  are  doomed  to  eternal  pun- 
ishment. This  innate  tendency  to  evil  is  called  "original  sin;" 
the  helpless  state  into  which  man  is  brought  by  it,  "  total  deprav- 
ity;" and  the  process  by  which  guilt  is  attributed  to  him, 
"  imputation." 

This  view  of  man  rests  almost  entirely  upon  the  second  and 
third  chapters  of  Genesis,  and  upon  the  interpretation  which  Paul 


30  A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 

gave  to  them  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  especially  v.  12-19. 
Belief  in  it,  therefore,  must  depend  largely  upon  the  opinion  held 
of  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures.  But  the  following  points  must 
be  considered:  (1)  This  view  of  human  nature  finds  no  support 
from  the  words  of  Jesus.  He  never  mentions  Adam,  Eve,  or 
Eden,  or  refers  to  the  story  of  the  Fall  in  any  way.  Nor  does  he 
imply  that  the  souls  he  addresses  are  not  able  to  respond.  The 
doctrine  of  total  depravity  is  never  referred  to  in  any  manner. 
(2)  Genesis  claims  no  divine  warrant  for  its  statements.  They 
are  frankly  and  naively  written  like  any  other  history.  That 
these  chapters  have  been  made  the  basis  of  a  tremendous  system 
of  theology  is  not  the  fault  of  their  authors.  (3)  No  part  of  the 
Bible  has  been  so  squarely  contradicted  by  modern  discoveries 
as  its  opening  chapters.  If  they  are  simply,  as  they  seem,  the 
statement  of  the  belief  of  their  day,  or  of  their  writers,  this  is 
not  strange.  If  any  one  persists  in  taking  them  for  a  divinely 
inspired  statement  of  infallible  truth,  he  must  choose  between 
them  and  the  almost  universally  accepted  views  of  modern  men 
of  science.  That  pain  and  death  were  in  the  world  before  man 
came,  being  the  common  heritage  of  all  sentient  life ;  that  man 
was  not  made  directly  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  but,  at  least 
physically,  developed  from  lower  orders  of  animals:  that  the 
human  race  did  not  spring  from  a  single  pair;  that  there  is  no 
trace  of  a  primeval  innocence  and  a  subsequent  fall,  but  that  all 
signs  point  to  a  gradual  ascent  from  a  savage  condition ;  besides 
the  minor  points  that  woman  was  not  made  from  the  rib  of  man, 
and  that  the  serpent  never  went  upright  or  on  legs,  —  all  these 
views  steadily  gain  ground,  and  relegate  the  story  of  Genesis  to 
the  realm  of  poetry,  from  which  indeed  it  may  have  first  come. 
Add  to  them  the  discrepancies  between  the  two  stories  of  the 
Creation  (Gen  i.,  ii.  1-3,  and  iL  4-25),  and  the  remarkably  few 
references  to  either  of  them  in  the  rest  of  the  Bible  except  those 
of  Paul,  and  we  have  abundant  reason  for  doubt  as  to  the  literal 
accuracy  of  this  account  of  the  origin  of  man.  As  to  the  infer- 
ences of  Paul  from  the  original  story,  our  view  of  them  will  de- 
pend, first,  upon  the  value  we  set  upon  doctrines  asserted  by  a 
follower  which  the  Master  did  not  teach,  -  a  follower,  too,  who 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  31 

had  never  seen  him  ;  secondly,  upon  our  idea  of  Paul's  purpose  in 
these  words,  — whether  be  meant  to  speak  dogmatically  and  with 
authority,  or  whether  he  was  speaking  rhetorically,  in  the  en- 
thusiasm of  his  gratitude  to  Jesus.  The  Epistles  were  letters,  and 
their  style  is  not  formal  or  exact,  or  even  always  correct.  They 
were  evidently  not  meant  as  doctrinal  treatises  (see  Matthew 
Arnold's  "St.  Paul  and  Protestantism").  Yet  it  is  on  Paul's 
letters,  not  on  the  Gospels,  that  the  popular  view  of  human  nature 
is  based. 


The  doctrine  of  man's  nature  was  worked  out  by  the  practical 
Western  or  Latin  part  of  the  early  Church,  as  the  doctrihe  of 
Christ's  nature  was  by  the  speculative  Eastern  or  Greek  part. 
The  general  belief  at  first  was  in  the  inherited  or  Adaiuic  cor- 
ruption (not  guill)  of  man,  and  his  ability  to  co-operate  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  regeneration.  Pelagius,  a  British  monk,  precipi- 
tated discus-ion  by  asserting,  about  405,  that  man  inherited  noth- 
ing from  Adam,  neither  original  guilt,  which  was  impossible,  nor 
innate  corruption,  nor  physical  consequences,  as  pain  and  death, 
wlrch  were  in  the  world  before  Adam.  Every  man  was  born  free 
and  unbiassed.  Augustine  in  412  maintained  tint  man  inherited 
not  only  inborn  corruption,  but  guilt;  that  he  was  helpless,  and 
could  be  saved  only  by  the  absolute  power  of  God.  Tiiis  view  at 
first  gained  the  complete  ascendency,  and  Pelagiariisrn  never  had 
any  considerable  footing.  But  Augustinianism  gradually  softened 
into  Semi-Pelagianism,  which  was  very  much  the  original  doctrine 
of  inherited  corruption  and  the  power  of  co-operation.  This  has 
remained  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Church,  as  fixed  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  after  the  Reformation.  This  Church,  though  it  has 
not  pronounced  authoritatively  upon  this  point,  holds  that  right- 
eousness was  not  a  natural  quality  of  man  at  Creation,  but  was  a 
supernatural  addition,  lost  again  at  the  Fall.  Man's  corruption  is 
therefore  a  negative  thing,  —  disorder  and  helplessness  from  loss 
of  a  leader,  not  a  positive  wilful  rebellion. 

"  Augustinianism  asserts  that  man  is  morally  dead;  Semi-Pela- 
gianism,  that  he  is  morally  sick;  Pelagianism,  that  he  is  morally 
well.1' 

The  three  views  were  revived  at  or  after  the  Reformation.. 
Calvin  (1536)  revived  Augustinianism,  Socinus  (about  15JJO), 
Pelaiiianism,  and  Arminius  (1589),  Semi- Pelagian  ism.  Calvin 
was  followed  by  most  Protestants  of  his  century,  —  Presbyterians, 


32  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

Congregational ists,  Baptists,  etc.,  —  Socinus  by  the  early  Unita- 
rians, and  Arminius  practically  by  the  Church  of  England  (the 
Romanists  being  already  of  the  same  mind),  and  formally  by  the 
Methodists  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Since  then  Calvinism  has 
largely  died  away  and  Arminianism  now  has  decidedly  the  su- 
premacy. Pure  Pelagianism  is  made  impossible  by  the  facts  of 
habit  and  heredity.  No  one  would  maintain  that  we  come  into 
the  world  without  bias  or  corruption,  amounting  often  to  serious 
crippling,  if  not  to  helplessness.  But  that  men  are  guilty  of  what 
they  did  not  originate  and  cannot  help,  and  deserve  God's  wrath 
and  extreme  penalty,  is  a  doctrine  which  shows  no  sign  of  return. 
That  there  is  original  or  hereditary  mix  for  tune  ^  or  moral  disease, 
is  more  clearly  seen,  but  original  or  hereditary  sin  is  an  obsolete 
phrase.  That  infants  are  guilty  and  under  divine  wrath  and 
punishment,  as  Augus1  ine  and  Calvin  taught,  is  a  doctrine  that 
no  one  now  can  be  found  to  own,  scarcely  to  remember. 


QUESTIONS. 

What  is  the  doctrine  of  man's  nature  called  ?  What  is  the  common  belief 
of  Christians?  What  is  u  original  sin"  ?  "Total  depravity"  ?  "Imputa- 
tion" ?  What  are  the  Scriptural  bases  of  this  view?  What  was  Jesus' 
position  ?  What  is  true  of  the  infallibility  of  Genesis  ?  What  has  modern 
science  to  say  of  Genesis  ?  Of  pain  and  death  ?  Of  man's  origin  V  Of  his 
first  condition  ?  Of  woman's  creation  ?  Of  the  serpent  ?  What  differ- 
ences can  you  find  between  the  two  stories  of  the  Creation  ?  What  shall 
we  say  of  doctrines  of  Paul  not  given  by  Jesus  ?  Of  Paul's  style  V  Of 
his  idea  of  his  letters  ?  Is  the  popular  doctrine  based  on  Jesus  or  on  Paul  ? 
Where  was  the  anthropology  of  the  Early  Church  worked  out?  What  was 
at  first  believed?  What  did  Pelagius  teach?  Augustine?  The  Semi- 
Pelagians?  How  have  these  been  revived  in  Reformation  times?  What 
does  the  Roman  Church  teach?  What  is  the  situation  now  ?  What  have 
science  and  philosophy  to  say  upon  the  question  ?  Wherein  do  they  agree 
with  Calvin?  Wherein  do  they  disagree  ?  Who  believes  in  the  guilt  and 
damnation  of  infants  ?  Look  into  your  own  life.  Does  it  seem  to  you  that 
you  have  any  bias  toward  good  or  evil  ?  Whence  come  your  impulses  ?  Are 
you  entirely  free  to  do  as  you  like  ?  Can  3-011  sympathize  with  Paul  in 
Rom.  vii.  15-25  ?  Is  sin  ever  the  consequence  of  an  irresistible  disease  ? 
How  about  inebriety  ?  How  much  power  has  heredity  ?  Habit  ?  Circum- 
stances ?  Are  you  Arminian,  Socinian,  or  Calvinist?  Do  you  know  any 
thorough  Calvinists  ?  Can  one  be  such  and  be  happy  ? 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  33 


REFERENCES. 

For  the  Catholic  view,  see  Addis  and  Arnold.  For  the  Calvinistic, 
besides  Calvin's  Institutes,  see  Jonathan  Ed  wards' s  A  careful  and  strict 
Inquiry  into  the  Prevailing  Notions  of  the  Freedom  of  the  Will,  The 
Great  Christian  Doctrine  of  Original  Sin  Defended,  and  many  of  his  ser- 
mons, especially  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry  God.  For  a  milder  view, 
see  the  discussion  between  Charming  and  Moses  Stuart,  and  Horace  Bush- 
nell's  Nature  and  the  Supernatural.  For  the  Unitarian  view,  see  Dewey's 
sermons  On  Human  Nature  and  On  Human  Life ;  Hedge's  Reason  in 
Religion,  book  i.  chap,  vii.;  Martineau's  A  Study  of  Religion,  book  iii. 
chap.  ii. ;  M»  J.  Savage's  Beliefs  about  Man;  Human  Nature  not  Ruined 
but  Incomplete,  by  C.  C.  Everett  (American  Unitarian  Association  Tract, 
No.  3,  in  Fourth  Series). 


6.    SALVATION. 

Feeble,  helpless,  how  shall  I 
Learn  to  live  and  learn  to  die  ? 
Who,  O  God,  my  guide  shall  be  ? 
Who  shall  lead  thy  child  to  thee  ? 

Blessed  Father,  gracious  One, 
Thou  hast  sent  thy  holy  Son. 
He  will  give  the  light  I  need; 
He  my  trembling  steps  will  lead.  —  Furness. 

All  Christians  agree  that  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  mark  the 
chief  epoch  in  the  moral  history  of  humanity,  and  that  he  has 
done  more  than  any  one  else  to  bring  about  an  atonement  between 
God  and  man.  Here,  however,  begin  great  differences  of  view, 
in  harmony  with  the  various  views  of  human  nature.  Liberals, 
believing  human  nature  toHbe  essentially  sound,  though  weak  and 
stumbling,  define  atonement  according  to  the  original  meaning  of 
the  word,  as  meaning  at-one-ment,  or  leading  the  divine  and  the 
human  will  to  be  at  one.  They  make  this  consist  in  the  action  of 
Jesus  upon  man,  not  upon  God.  They  believe  that  God  is  always 
seeking  to  enter  the  world  of  humanity,  —  pressing  upward  through 
.humanity  to  ever  higher  forms  of  spiritual  life,  as  through  the 

3 


34  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

world  of  Nature  into  ever  higher  forms  of  physical  life.  It  is  the 
blindness,  weakness,  and  selfishness  of  men  that  need  to  be  over- 
come; and  this  Jesus  hac  helped  men  to  do  by  the  power  of  his 
truth  and  his  personality  through  the  natural  laws  which  are 
always  at  work  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  world. 

Oilier  Christians,  including  both  Catholics  and  Protestants,  con- 
sider the  atonement  as  working  upon  the  wrath  or  offended  justice 
of  God.  It  is  He  who  has  been  reconciled  to  man,  not  man  to  Him. 
This  has  been  effected  by  a  compact  between  God  the  Father  and 
God  the  Son,  the  latter  agreeing  to  leave  his  heavenly  home 
and  bliis,  to  take  upon  himself  human  form  and  human  nature,  to 
be  tempted,  persecuted,  and  put  to  death  upon  the  disgraceful 
cross,  that  so  God  may  be  moved  to  forgive  the  sins  of  men ;  since 
they,  being  corrupt,  can  do  nothing  to  earn  that  forgiveness  for 
themselves.  The  atonement  is  thus  a  supernatural  matter,  out  of 
the  range  of  ordinary  moral  and  spiritual  laws,  as  it  is  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  human  reason.  To  explain  how  it  satisfies  the 
justice  of  God  there  have  been  many  theories.  The  two  most 
generally  held  in  modern  times  are  that  of  the  vicarious  atone- 
ment, or  substitution  of  Jesus'  sufferings  for  those  due  from  man- 
kind, their  sin  being  imputed  to  him  and  his  righteousness  to  them ; 
and  the  governmental  theory,  —  that  a  great  example  was  needed  to 
show  mankind  the  enormity  of  its  sin,  and  to  vindicate  the  divine 
justice  by  a  punishment  proportionate  to  the  offence.  The  former 
view  was  adopted  by  the  Calvinists,  the  latter  by  the  Arminians. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  to  the  Liberal  both  seem  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  any  true  conception  of  justice.  If  man  has  sinned,  it 
is  man  who  must  be  punished  ;  and  no  substitution  of  the  innocent 
for  the  guilty,  and  no  exhibition  of  an  innocent  "example,"  is  jus- 
tifiable. As  to  the  support  from  Scripture,  it  may  be  said  in  gen- 
eral: (1)  That  the  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament  are  too 
vague  or  too  contradiptory  to  be  made  the  basis  of  any  such  doc- 
trines. (2)  That  they  find  no  favor  in  the  words  of  Jesus.  (  Had 
we  only  the  Gospels,  no  one  would  ever  have  dreamed  of  such 
theories.  (3)  That  the  Epistles  were  written  by  men  who  were 
fresh  from  Judaism,  and  unable  to  break  away  yet  from  the  Jewish 
idea  of  sacrifice.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  shows  the  process 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  35 

of  transition.  Jesus  is  compared  to  the  sacrificial  victims  on  tlie 
Temple  altar.  This  leads  to  language  which  Jesus  never  used,  and 
which  must  be  most  liberally,  not  literally,  construed.  (4)  When 
reconciliation  between  God  and  man  is  spoken  of,  it  is  almost 
invariably  man  who  is  said  to  have  been  reconciled  to  God 
(Rom.  xi.  15  ;  2  Cor.  v.  18-20  ;  Col.  i.  21). 

Predestination.  — But  for  whom  was  the  atonement  intended? 
The  Arminians  (including  Romanists,  Anglicans,  Methodists)  say 
for  all  men.  It  was  a  "universal  atonement."  The  Calvinists 
say  that  it  was  only  for  the  elect.  All  men  are  alike  guilty  and 
helpless ;  but  God  chooses  to  save  some  and  let  the  rest  go  on  to 
their  merited  doom.  The  former  act  is  called  "  predestination," 
or  fixing  destiny  beforehand ;  the  latter,  "  preterition,"  or  passing 
by.  To  the  elect  God  gives  faith  and  keeps  them  in  holiness,  so 
that  they  can  never  fall  away  ("  perseverance  of  the  saints "). 
Jhe  non-elect,  including  all  the  heathen  and  perhaps  many  chil- 
dren, strive  they  never  so  much,  cannot  attain  to  salvation.  This 
doctrine  is  the  heart  of  Calvinism  as  our  Puritan  forefathers  held 
it,  and  is  still  nominally  held  by  the  Presbyterians  and  some 
among  the  Baptists  and  the  Congregationalists,  but  is  rapidly 
fading  away.  The  Liberal,  of  course,  positively  rejects  it.  That 
there  is  predestination  in  this  life  cannot  be  denied.  What  we  call 
the  u  force  of  circumstances,"  including  the  era  and  place  of  our 
birth,  our  surroundings,  physical  and  moral,  and  the  myriad  influ- 
ences which  play  upon  us  continually  and  mould  us  more  than  our 
own  will,  is  largely  but  another  name  for  what  theology  calls  the 
sovereignty  of  God.  How  deeply  this  affects  our  inner  life  it  is 
hard  to  say ;  but  that  it  affects  us  in  most  important  ways  we 
cannot  help  seeing.  The  scientific  doctrines  of  heredity  and  the 
power  of  environment  are  but  other  ways  of  stating  this.  The 
predestination  of  this  life  troubles  the  thoughtful  mind  with  an 
unavoidable  sense  of  injustice.  The  only  escape  from  this  is  to 
look  upon  the  present  life  as  a  stage  of  probation.  When  we 
begin  it,  we  have  no  character,  no  merits  or  demerits,  upon  which 
divine  justice  could  be  exercised.  God  has  a  right,  therefore,  to 
use  us  for  His  own  ends.  But  the  opportunities  and  trials  of 
this  use  bring  out  our  latent  moral  powers,  and  we  may  believe 


36  A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 

that  the  character  thus  developed  will  be  regarded  in  the  life  to 
come.  The  common  doctrine  of  predestination,  by  extending  the 
disregard  of  human  character  into  the  eternal  future,  cuts  off 
this  refuge  of  the  sense  of  justice,  and  prolongs  what  we  can 
understand  if  it  is  a  temporary  arrangement  for  judicial  ends,  into 
eternal  selfishness  and  cruelty.  All  attempts  to  reconcile  this 
doctrine  with  anything  which  we  can  call  goodness,  and  can  wor- 
ship as  worthy  of  our  adoration,  must  fail.  Its  effect  upon  the 
moral  life  would  be  profoundly  discouraging,  so  far  as  it  were 
really  believed. 

The  Arminian  believes  that  the  atonement  was  for  all  mankind. 
The  human  will  is  free  to  accept  or  reject  the  offer  of  pardon  and 
restoration.  This  was  the  message  of  *'  free  grace  "  which  Metho- 
dism brought  to  a  Calvinistic  Protestantism,  and  is  virtually  the 
belief  of  Catholics  and  Episcopalians. 

Conversion.  —  The  atonement  is  appropriated  by  the  individ- 
ual through  faith,  by  which  great  souls  have  meant  a  personal 
union  with  Christ,  but  which  commonly  degenerates  into  assent  to 
creeds  or  ceremonies.  To  faith  the  Catholic  adds  reception  of 
the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  by  which  grace  is  conveyed  to  the 
partaker.  By  most  Protestants  this  faith  is  expected  to  come 
during  some  sudden  and  peculiar  crisis  of  religious  experience,  in 
which  the  sinner  comes  lt  under  conviction  of  sin,'9  realizes  that 
he  is  "lost,"  seeks  for  help,  and  finds  it  with  joy  in  a  burst  of 
"  faith  in  the  atoning  merits  of  Jesus. ?>  To  bring  on  this  crisis, 
"revivals,7'  or  times  of  intense  emotional  excitement,  are  stimu- 
lated, during  which,  under  the  appeals  of  fervent  preachers  and 
the  contagion  of  crowded  congregations,  people  are  supposed  to 
be  especially  visited  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  These  "  awakenings " 
are  not  as  frequent  as  they  were,  and  seem  better  fitted  for  people 
of  crude  than  for  those  of  developed  natures.  They  fall  in  with 
the  Evangelical  view  in  general,  —  that  the  spiritual  life  proceeds 
by  miracles,  special  interventions  of  divine  power,  since  human 
nature  is  of  itself  helpless  in  its  corruption.  The  Liberal,  how- 
ever, denying  this  corruption  and  helplessness,  looks  rather  for 
gradual  development  than  for  crises,  and  relies  more  upon  steady 
culture  under  constant  influences  than  upon  revolutions  under  sud- 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  37 

den  attacks  from  without.  In  this  he  is  joined  by  Catholics  and 
Episcopalians,  and  by  an  increasing  number  of  other  Protestants. 

Justification.  —  The  first  effect  of  faith  is  "justification,"  by 
which  the  Catholic  means  making  just,  and  the  "  Orthodox"  Prot- 
estant reckoning  as  just.  The  conditions  of  justification,  accord- 
ing to  the  Catholic  view,  are  baptism  and,  at  the  age  of  reason, 
faith  in  God  and  love  of  God.  By  baptism  the  supernatural  gift 
of  righteousness,  which  was  lost  at  the  Fall  of  Adam,  is  restored 
to  the  recipient,  fed  by  the  other  sacraments  of  the  Church  — 
especially  the  Eucharist  —  and  by  constant  exercise  of  faith  and 
love.  The  Protestant,  however,  denies  that  any  rite  can  be  the 
supernatural  channel  of  divine  grace,  and  makes  faith  alone  the 
condition  of  acceptance  with  God,  and  justification  a  judicial  dec- 
laration of  mercy,  by  which  the  sinner's  past  is  forgiven  and 
washed  away,  and  he  is  accepted  for  Christ's  sake  as  already 
righteous. 

Sanctification.  —  This  seems  to  be  with  the  Catholic  identical 
with  or  a  continuation  of  justification.  The  Protestant,  however, 
makes  it  the  process  by  which  the  remains  of  original  sin,  the 
habits  and  tendencies  inherited  from  a  sinful  past,  having  now 
become  involuntary  and  as  it  were  external  to  the  soul,  are  gradu- 
ally eradicated.  If  the  sinful  soul  be  considered  diseased,  con- 
version is  the  crisis,  justification  the  doctor's  verdict  that  he  has 
passed  the  crisis  favorably,  and  sanetificauon  the  gradual  convales- 
cence under  careful  nursing  and  (says  the  Arminian)  the  recupera- 
tive power  of  his  own  system.  The  Calvinist,  as  we  have  seen, 
holds  that  the  "  elect "  are  kept  from  backsliding  by  divine  power. 
The  Methodist  believes  that  it  is  possible  for  the  soul  to  attain 
such  purity  of  motive  that  however  the  old  Adam  may  yet  hover 
about  the  outside  of  one's  life,  one  may  be  "  perfect "  in  spirit. 
There  has  been  in  both  these  cases  a  danger  of  underrating  the 
value  of  moral  laws  to  those  who  are  saved  by  faith,  —  a  danger 
called  "  Antinomianism,"  by  which  some  have  been  led  into  what 
mankind  in  general  have  considered  and  punished  as  ordinary 
wickedness. 

Among  Liberal  Christians  the  terms  "justification  "  and  "sane- 
tification,"  with  many  others,  have  passed  out  of  use  with  the 


38  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

theology  from  which  they  sprang.  All  the  truth  which  they 
covered  is  now  included  in  the  thought  of  that  divine  education 
which  is  constantly  going  on  in  the  earnest  soul  through  the  vari- 
ous experiences  of  life.  The  care  of  God  for  the  soul  is  seen  by 
the  Liberal,  not  merely  in  those  influences  which  are  called  reli- 
gious, or  in  those  times  and  places  which  are  considered  sacred, 
but  in  every  joy  or  sorrow,  success  or  defeat,  by  which  the  mind 
is  enlightened,  the  sympathies  broadened,  the  faith  of  the  soul 
awakened  and  trained,  and  the  beauty  of  holiness  made  manifest. 
This  may  come  sometimes  in  shocks  which  open  the  eyes  suddenly, 
but  generally  through  the  experiences  of  every  day. 

QUESTIONS. 

Upon  what  do  all  Christians  agree  as  to  the  effect  of  Jesus'  life  and  death 
upon  human  welfare  ?  What  difference  is  there  between  the  Liberal  and 
other  views  of  the  atonement  ?  Which  needs  to  be  reconciled,  God  or  man? 
What  is  the  "  Orthodox  "  theory  of  the  atonement  ?  What  two  explanations 
of  the  mode  are  given  ?  What  parties  hold  these  ?  What  does  the  Liberal 
answer  to  them  ?  What  can  be  said  of  the  Old  Testament  texts  cited  to 
support  them  ?  What  does  Jesus  say  about  them  ?  How  can  3-011  explain 
the  strange  language  of  the  Epistles  in  many  cases  ?  Who  is  reconciled, 
according  to  the  New  Testament  ? 

What  difference  of  view  exists  as  to  the  extent  of  the  atonement?  What 
is  election  ?  predestination  ?  preterition  ?  perseverance  of  the  saints  ? 
What  becomes  of  the  heathen?  of  infants?  Who  still  hold  this  view? 
Is  there  any  predestination  ?  What  is  the  scientific  principle  of  heredity? 
of  environment  ?  How  does  this  differ  from  the  theological  doctrine  of 
predestination?  What  is  the  Arminian  belief? 

How  does  man  avail  himself  of  the  atonement?  What  difference  exists 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants  as  to  this?  What,  is  the  Protes- 
tant theory  of  conversion  ?  What  is  a  revival  ?  From  what  deeper  theory 
of  "Orthodoxy  "  does  its  idea  of  conversion  spring?  What  is  the  Liberal 
view  ?  On  what  grounds  is  it  held  ? 

What  does  justification  mean  to  th^  Catholic  ?  to  the  Protestant?  What 
are  the  conditions  in  each  case  ?  What  is  sanctification  ?  What  difference 
here  between  Catholic  and  Protestant?  How  far  does  the  Calvinist  carry 
sanctification  ?  the  Methodist  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  the  two 
views  ?  What  is  Antinomianism  ?  What  is  the  Liberal  view  of  salvation 
in  general  ?  What  do  you  think  of  revivals  ?  of  the  conversions  which 
vou  have  known  ? 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  39 


REFERENCES. 

For  Unitarian  views,  see  C.  H.  Toy's  Judaism  and  Christianity,  chap.  iv. ; 
F.  H.  Hedge's  Reason  in  Rtli<jion,  book  ii.  chaps,  vi.  vii.  and  viii.;  Marti- 
neau's  The  Seat  of  Authority  in  Reliyion,  pp.  450  490;  E.  H.  Sears's 
Regeneration;  J.  F.  Clarke's  Christian  Doctrine  of  the  Forgiveness  of  Sins; 
American  Unitarian  Association  Tract,  Fourth  Series,  No.  4,  The  Atonement 
in  Connection  with  the  Death  of  Christ,  by  F.  H.  Hedge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  also 
Nos.  1C  and  18;  S.  J.  Barrows's  Duom  of  the  Majority ;  Dewey's  Works, 
pp.  373-381;  J.  H.Allen's  Ten  Discourses  on  Orthodixy,  chap,  v.;  J.  F. 
Clarke's  Manual  of  Unitarian  Belitf,  and  Ideas  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  chaps, 
viii.  xiii.  xv.  xvi. 

The  Calvinistic  doctrines  are  given  in  Charles  Hodge's  Systematic  Theol- 
ogy,  and  A.  A.  Hodge's  Outlines  of  Theology;  the  Arminian,  in  Wilbur 
Fisk's  The  Calvinistic  Controversy ;  the  present  Congregationalist,  in  R.  W. 
Dale's  The  Atonement ;  a  milder  form,  in  J.  McLeod  Campbell's  The  Nature 
of  the  Atonement,  and  Horace  BushnelPs  Vicarious  Sacrifice  and  Forgive- 
ness and  Law;  the  Catholic,  in  H.  W.  Oxenham's  The  Catholic  Doctrine 
of  the  Atonement.  The  history  of  predestination  is  well  condensed  in1  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  article,  "  Predestination."  For  the  doctr'ne,  see 
J.  B.  Mozley's  Augustinian  Doctrine  of  Predestination,  and  J.  T.  G.  Shedd's 
Discourses  and  Essays.  See,  also,  J.  H.  Newman's  Lectures  on  the  Doctrine 
of  Justification. 


7.   THE   FUTURE   LIFE. 

I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air; 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  His  love  and  care.  —  Whiitier. 

All  Christians,  except  the  few  who  hold  to  the  annihilation  of 
the  wicked,  believe  in  the  eternal  continuance  of  every  human 
life.  One  of  the  most  striking  consequences  of  Christianity  at  first 
was  the  calmness,  and  even  joy,  with  which  its  disciples  looked 
upon  death.  The  inscriptions  in  the  catacombs  bear  witness  to 
this.  But  when  the  Catholic  Church  began  to  invoke  the  terrors 
of  the  Judgment,  to  force  submission  to  its  demands,  and  when 
later  the  Protestants  rivalled  it  in  working  upon  the  imagination, 


40  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

a  morbid  fear  of  death,  such  as  the  heathen  world  never  knew, 
fell  upon  Christendom.  The  Catholic  Church  is  able  to  still  this 
fear  in  those  who  die  under  its  protection.  Orthodox  Protes- 
tantism cannot  always  lull  the  dread  which  it  has  roused,  and  is 
responsible  for  much  needless  mental  suffering.  Unitarians,  Uni- 
versalists,  and  Swedenborgians  probably  die  with  much  more  calm- 
ness ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  better  class  of  Spiritualists. 

The  reason  for  this  difference  is  that  the  Catholic  Church  is 
able  to  impress  the  imagination  of  its  members  with  the  belief 
that  it  is  mightier  even  than  mighty  death,  and  holds  the  keys  of 
heaven  and  hell.  As  between  the  Evangelical  and  the  Liberal 
Protestant,  the  latter  maintains  that  death  is  a  purely  physical 
event,  common  to  all  living  things,  and  not  a  moral  crisis.  It  was 
not  a  penalty  in  the  beginning,  and  has  no  relation  to  the  moral 
condition  now.  The  soul  goes  on  hereafter  from  the  point  where  it 
was  at  death.  But  the  common  belief  among  the  Orthodox  is  that 
death  was  originally  the  punishment  of  Adam's  sin,  and  that  it 
marks  for  every  man  the  end  of  his  probation.  After  it  there  is 
no  hope  of  essential  change.  In  this  they  are  joined  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  Greek  Churches.  The  Catholic,  however, 
holds  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  —  a  region  where  sins  not  mortal 
are  expiated,  or  purged  away,  and  penances  not  finished  before 
death  are  worked  out.  But  those  convicted  of  mortal  sins,  includ- 
ing wilful  unbelief,  have  no  chance  after  death.  The  Reformers 
rejected  the  doctrine  of  purgatory ;  but  there  have  always  been 
a  few  among  Evangelical  Protestants  —  represented  now  by  the 
"  Andover  School "  of  the  Congregationalists  —  who  have  held  to 
"  probation  after  death  "  for  those  who  have  had  no  opportunity  of 
hearing  the  Gospel  preached  in  this  world.  But  the  Evangelicals 
are  practically  united  in  believing  that  the  destiny  of  all  is  fixed 
at  death,  and  that  those  who  have  not  saving  faith  in  Christ, 
whether  they  have  heard  of  him  or  not,  including  the  heathen,  are 
doomed  to  eternal  misery. 

The  great  drama  of  the  future  life,  in  the  belief  of  the  early 
Christians,  consisted  of  four  acts, — the  "second  advent"  of 
Christ,  the  millennium,  the  last  judgment,  and  the  eternal 
continuance  of  the  fate  then  assigned. 


A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS.  41 

The  first  Christians  believed  that  Jesus  would  come  again 
before  his  generation  had  passed  away.  (See  remarks  under 
"  Second  Adventists.")  Less  is  said  of  the  fate  of  unbelievers 
than  of  the  joyful  union  of  believers  with  their  returned  Master. 
This  belief  died  away  with  remarkable  quietness ;  but  the  expec- 
tation of  Christ's  sudden  return  in  judgment  has  a,t  times  flamed 
up  with  great  fervor,  —  as  in  the  year  1000,  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  and  in  this  century  among  the  "  Millerites.'1  It  is 
commonly  held  among  Evangelicals  that  the  second  advent  can- 
not be  foretold  with  any  definiteness,  but  that  it  may  happen  at 
any  time.  Practically,  however,  the  belief  seems  dead. 

As  to  the  fate  of  the  soul  between  death  and  judgment,  little  is 
commonly«  said,  and  the  belief  is  very  vague.  Apparently  it  is 
commonly  held  that  the  soul  remains  with  the  body  in  the  grave 
in  an  unconscious  state. 

The  Christians  of  the  first  two  or  three  centuries  believed  that 
the  second  coming  of  Christ  would  be  followed  by  the  resurrection 
of  believers,  and  their  happy  reign  with  him  upon  the  earth  for 
a  thousand  years,  or  millennium  (Rev.  xx.).  This  belief  faded 
away,  but  has  been  revived  by  a  few  in  the  present  century, 
largely  among  the  Baptists. 

The  last  judgment  has  been  in  Christian  theology  a  most  dread- 
ful event,  described  with  details  sometimes  grand  and  picturesque, 
often  grotesque.  As  a  means  of  impressing  the  imagination  of 
the  ignorant  and  superstitious,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and 
compelling  them  into  the  churches,  it  has  stood  supreme.  The 
heavens  rolled  aside  as  curtains  ;  Christ  upon  a  high  throne,  no 
longer  meek  and  persuading,  but  awful  and  relentless,  surrounded 
by  the  angels  and  clothed  with  omnipotence  ;  the  graves  opening; 
the  sea  giving  up  its  dead  ;  the  terrible  dividing  of  saint  and  sinner; 
the  bliss  of  the  one  fate,  the  horror  of  the  other,  —  these  were  the 
elements  of  the  "  Great  Assize."  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
thought  of  the  more  intelligent  and  spiritual,  to  the  common  mind 
and  in  the  common  preaching  this  judgment  turned  practically 
upon  submission  to  the  Church,  or  belief  in  the  power  of  Christ 
to  save  those  who  trusted  in  him.  Calvinism  draws  the  line 
between  the  elect  and  the  non-elect,  Arminianism  between  those 


42  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

who  accept  and  those  who  reject  Christ  according  to  the  trini- 
tarian  conception  of  him;  by  all,  "good  works"  not  spring- 
ing from  faith  in  Christ  are  counted  as  of  no  value.  It  is  but 
just  to  add  that  this  whole  doctrine,  though  unchanged  in  the 
creeds,  has  undergone  an  immense  softening  and  disintegrating 
in  the  preaching  of  the  day.  Fear  is  less  often  appealed  to 
as  a  motive  to  faith;  and  the  love  of  God  and  of  Christ  and 
the  beauty  of  holiness  are  the  common  grounds  for  urging 
conversion. 

Universalists  commonly  believe  in  a  final  judgment,  at  first 
having  held  that  it  assigned  all  men  to  happiness.  Later  they 
have  maintained  a  difference  in  verdict,  but  a  final  restoration. 
The  New  Church  holds  the  beautiful  doctrine  that  the  judgment 
proceeds  upon  natural  principles,  each  soul  going,  as  it  were,  by 
its  own  specific  gravity  to  the  place,  circumstances,  and  society  for 
which  it  is  fit  by  its  actual  moral  condition.  The  Unitarian  coin- 
cides in  this  view,  holding  that  judgment  is  not  entirely  deferred, 
but  is  largely  immediate,  the  soul  being  visited  at  once  with  that 
new  vision  or  blindness,  new  strength  or  weakness,  new  sensitive- 
ness or  dulness  in  moral  and  spiritual  things,  which  are  the  natural 
and  just  consequences  of  righteousness  or  of  sin.  But  since  the 
conventionalities  and  wrong  judgments  of  this  world  hide,  even 
from  the  soul  itself,  its  real  moral  condition,  it  may  well  be  that 
its  emergence  into  a  life  which  is  purely  spiritual  will  be  a  reve- 
lation to  itself,  as  well  as  to  others,  of  its  actual  worth.  The  old 
picture  of  the  judgment  is,  of  course,  now  rendered  absurd  by  the 
changed  idea  of  the  universe,  resulting  in  the  disappearance  of 
the  old  conception  of  heaven  as  a  place  over  a  stationary  earth, 
or  hell  as  a  place  within  it. 

The  condition  of  the  two  classes  of  saints  and  sinners  after  the 
judgment  has  commonly  been  described  in  the  terms  of  the  Book 
of  Revelation.  Heaven  is  a  place  of  rest  and  worship,  resulting 
in  happiness  unspeakable,  but  apparently  monotonous  and  tedious; 
hell  is  a  place  of  torment,  commonly  described  as  inflicted  by  fire. 
Though  the  Catholic  Church  denies  that  the  flame  is  material,  it 
has  always  presented  the  torment  under  that  figure,  and  made  the 
most  of  it.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Evangelical  Protestant.  As 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  43 

to  the  eternity  of  both  conditions,  all  but  Liberals  are  strongly 
agreed. 

But  against  nothing  in  the  popular  theology  have  Liberals  pro- 
tested more  indignantly  than  against  infinite  punishment  for  any- 
thing that  can  be  done  by  finite  man  in  so  short  a  life  as  that  which 
he  spends  on  the  earth.  The  Universalists  led  in  this  protest, 
and  Unitarians  have  followed.  An  increasing  number  of  Evan- 
gelicals more  or  less  boldly  renounce  the  belief.  In  the  Church 
of  England  men  like  Stanley,  Robertson,  Maurice,  Farrar,  and 
Kingsley,  have  done  so,  claiming  that  the  omission  of  the  Article 
on  eternal  punishment  from  the  original  Forty-Two  in  compil- 
ing the  present  Thirty-Nine  justifies  them.  In  great  numbers  of 
pulpits  the  doctrine  is  scarcely  heard,  though  it  remains  in  the 
creeds  and  covenants.  The  Catholics  soften  it  by  assigning  to 
infants  not  baptized  only  loss  of  spiritual  happiness,  leaving  them 
natural  enjoyment  in  their  own  place.  The  Liberals  also  deny 
the  resurrection  of  the  body,  which  is  the  belief  of  the  rest  of 
Christendom.  The  New  Church  maintains  that  a  "  spiritual  body  " 
is  within  our  material  body  in  this  life,  and  is  disengaged  at  death 
to  become  the  tenement  and  organ  of  the  soul  hereafter.  The 
Apostles'  Creed,  however,  most  widely  held  of  all  formularies, 
asserts  "the  resurrection  of  the  body,"  —  a  phrase  which,  how- 
ever it  may  be  explained  away,  has  a  very  clear  meaning.  The 
Liberal,  however,  shrinks  from  attempting  to  define  the  future 
life  with  much  detail.  A  purely  spiritual  life  is  too  foreign  to  our 
imagination,  which  is  used  only  to  material  surroundings,  to  admit 
of  much  dogmatism.  It  should  be  enough  to  know  that  wherever 
or  amid  whatever  circumstances  the  soul  may  be  placed,  it  is  still 
under  the  care  of  a  just,  loving,  and  almighty  God. 

QUESTIONS. 

On  what  are  all  Christians  agreed  as  to  the  future  life  ?  How  did  the 
«arly  Christians  look  upon  death?  What  changed  this  view  ?*  How  do 
the  Catholic  and  the  two  kinds  of  Protestants  each  meet  death  ?  Why  ? 
What  difference  as  to  the  significance  of  death  is  there  between  the  Evan- 
gelical and  the  Liberal  views  V  With  which  do  the  Catholic  and  Greek 
Churches  agree  ?  What  is  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  ?  of  probation  after 


44  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

death  ?  What  is  the  common  Christian  view  of  the  future  fate  of  the 
heathen  ?  What  did  the  first  Christians  believe  as  to  the  second  coming  of 
Christ  ?  What  texts  can  you  remember  which  support  this  belief  ?  What 
revivals  of  it  have  occurred  ?  What  is  the  common  belief  now  ?  Do  you 
ever  hear  it  spoken  of  ?  What  becomes  of  the  soul  between  death  and  the 
judgment,  according  to  common  belief  ? 

What  was  the  early  Christian  belief  as  to  the  millennium?  What  does 
this  word  mean  ?  Does  any  one  hold  this  belief  now?  What  are  the  ele- 
ments of  the  popular  idea  of  the  last  judgment  ?  What  great  pictures  or 
sculptures  of  it  have  you  seen,  or  do  you  know  of  ?  On  what  does  the  judg- 
ment practically  turn  among  Catholics  ?  among  Evangelical  Protestants  ? 
How  does  Calvinism  draw  the  line  ?  Arminiaiiisra  ?  What  is  thought  of 
good  works  ?  How  has  the  common  preaching  on  this  point  changed  ?  What 
is  the  Universalist  belief  ?  that  of  the  New  Church  ?  of  the  Unitarians  ? 

What  has  furnished  the  common  vocabulary  for  describing  the  future 
life  ?  How  are  the  two  conditions  thought  of  ?  How  large  a  part  of  Chris- 
tendom believes  in  eternal  punishment  ?  What  is  the  main  Liberal  argu- 
ment against  it  ?  Who  led  the  protest  against  it  ?  What  great  men  besides 
avowed  Liberals  have  followed  them  ?  How  do  the  Catholics  soften  this 
doctrine  for  infants  ?  How  far  is  this  reasonable  ?  What  is  the  common 
Christian  belief  as  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ?  the  belief  of  the  New 
Church  ?  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  ?  What  is  the  general  attitude  of  Unitarians 
toward  the  details  of  the  hereafter? 

REFERENCES. 

Alger's  A  Critical  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life,  with  bibli- 
ography. For  Jewish  ideas  as  preparatory  to  Christian,  see  C.  H.  Toy's 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  chap.  vii.  For  the  Catholic  view,  see  Addis  and 
Arnold.  For  a  recent  Calvinistic  view,  see  The  Doctrine  of  Eternal  Punish- 
ment, by  W.  G.  T.  Shedd.  For  a  Methodist  view,  Lost  Forever,  by  Prof. 
L.  T.  Townsend.  A  collection  of  opinions  by  thinkers  of  all  schools  on  the 
question,  "Is  Salvation  Possible  after  Death?"  has  been  published  by 
T.  Whittaker,  of  New  York,  under  the  title,  Probation:  A  Symposium.  The 
Andover  view  is  given  in  the  sermons  of  Newman  Smyth,  and  in  Dorneron 
the  Future  State,  with  Introduction  by  Newman  Smyth ;  and  the  liberal 
Anglican,  in  Farrar's  Eternal  Hope.  Swedenborg's  views  are  given  in  his 
Heaven  and  //<//.  For  the  Unitarian  side,  see  Martineau's  Seat  of  Authority 
in  Religion,  pp.  546-573;  American  Unitarian  Association  Tracts,  Fourth 
Series,  Nos.  26,  27,  42,  78,  and  81;  Channing's  sermons,  "  The  Moral  Argu- 
ment against  Calvinism,"  ''Immortality,"  and  "The  Future  Life;"  Hedge's 
Reason  in  Religion,  book  ii.  chaps.  6,  9,  and  10;  S.  J.  Barrows' s  The  Doom 
of  the  Majority  of  Mankind ;  E.  H  Sears' s  Foregleams  and  Foreshadows 
of  Immortality. 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  45 


8.    THE   CHURCH   AND   THE   SACRAMENTS. 

One  holy  Church  of  God  appears 

Through  every  age  and  race, 
Unwasted  by  the  lapse  of  years, 

Unchanged  by  changing  place. 

Her  priests  are  all  God's  faithful  sons, 

To  serve  the  world  raised  up; 
The  pure  in  heart,  her  baptized  ones ; 

Love,  her  communion-cup. 

The  truth  is  her  prophetic  gift, 

The  soul,  her  sacred  page ; 
And. feet  on  mercy's  errands  swift 

Do  make  her  pilgrimage.  —  Samuel  Longfellow. 

The  Church.  —  There  is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  Jesus 
founded  or  prepared  for  an  organization  to  perpetuate  his  work. 
The  few  passages  of  the  Gospels  in  which  the  word  *'  church" 
occurs  are  explainable  on  other  grounds,  and  some  are  under  suspi- 
cion of  being  later  interpolations.  After  the  death  of  Jesus  there 
is  no  reference  to  any  such  instructions,  and  the  whole  matter  is 
left  in  too  great  doubt  to  admit  of  positive  assertions  on  so  impor- 
tant a  matter,  though  they  are  still  made  by  many.  The  first 
Christian  bodies  grew  up  naturally  around  the  Apostles  or  other 
preachers,  and  apparently  were  congregational  in  government ;  but 
the  need  and  the  habit  of  drawing  more  closely  together  led  to 
organization  on  the  Roman  political  pattern,  and  soon  the  present 
Roman  Catholic  system  can  be  seen  in  process  of  formation.  The 
Roman  Catholic  idea  of  the  Church  is  that  of  a  visible  institution, 
founded  by  Jesus,  placed  in  care  of  his  Apostles  after  his  death, 
and  by  them  handed  down  to  successors  authorized  by  them  to 
rule.  It  is  the  representative  of  God  upon  earth,  the  repository 
of  His  power  to  save,  which  He  gives  through  the  sacraments 
when  duly  administered.  It  alone  has  the  right  to  interpret  the 
revelations  made  in  the  Bible,  and  it  alone  receives,  through  its 
infallible  head,  such  new  truth  as  becomes  necessary  for  human 
guidance. 


40  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

The  Reformers  set  aside  the  idea  of  a  visible  Church,  the 
High  Church  Anglicans  and  Episcopalians  alone  retaining  a  more 
or  less  clear  shadow  of  it.  Evangelical  Protestants  believe  that 
the  true  Church  is  invisible,  being  composed  of  the  elect  alone,  the 
signs  of  election  being  clear  and  satisfying  faith  and  the  good 
life  which  flows  from  faith.  "The  Church  is  the  society  of  be- 
lievers in  which  the  word  is  preached  and  the  sacraments  duly 
administered."  The  visible  Church  may  contain  some  who  are 
not  true  believers  ;  but  inasmuch  as  all  who  are  true  believers  are 
sure  to  enter  the  Church  which  Christ  has  established,  the  Evan- 
gelical Protestant  commonly  holds,  with  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession, that  "outside  of  the  visible  Church  there  is  no  ordinary 
possibility  of  salvation." 

The  Unitarian  maintains  that  the  visible  Church  is  a  voluntary 
association  of  those  who  seek  religious  and  moral  quickening,  and 
who  unite  upon  certain  views  by  which  this  quickening  seems  best 
secured.  Membership  in  it  does  not  imply  any  superiority  to  those 
out  of  it,  in  any  sense  whatever.  It  is  simply  the  school  or  college 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.  But  Unitarians  believe  still  more 
in  an  invisible  Church.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Chan n ing,  "  There 
is  one  grand,  all-comprehending  Church.  .  .  .  All  Christians  and 
myself  form  one  body,  one  Church,  just  as  far  as  a  common  love 
and  piety  possess  our  hearts.  .  .  .  No  man  can  be  excommuni- 
cated from  it  but  by  himself,  —  by  the  death  of  goodness  in  his 
own  breast." 

The  form  of  the  Church  differs  among  Protestants.  Some  join 
their  congregations  into  larger  bodies,  which  they  call  "The 
Church,"  the  general  body  having  control  over  the  single  church. 
This  control  is  sometimes  exercised  by  individuals  called  bishops, 
as  in  the  Episcopal  (hence  this  name)  and  Methodist  Episcopal 
churches,  or  by  representative  bodies,  as  among  the  Presbyterians 
and  Universalists.  Others  maintain  the  independence  of  the 
single  congregations,  all  associations  of  these  being  purely  volun- 
tary and  advisory,  as  the  Congregationalists  (Trinitarian  and 
Unitarian)  and  Baptists. 

There  is  also  a  difference  as  to  the  terms  of  admission  into  the 
Protestant  churches.  Often  Unitarians  require  only  signature  to  a 


A   STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  47 

constitution,  sometimes  to  a  covenant  or  statement  of  faith  and  pur- 
pose, though  baptism  is  frequent.  Most  other  Protestants  require 
baptism,  the  condition  on  which  this  is  granted  being  generally 
the  relation  of  a  definite  religious  change  or  experience  involv- 
ing the  profession  of  a  satisfactory  faith  (Congregationalists, 
Baptists,  many  Presbyterians,  and  others),  or  upon  assent 
to  a  creed  or  catechism  (Episcopalians,  many  Presbyterians, 
ITniversalists). 

The  Clergy.  —  The  idea  of  the  clergy  in  Protestant  churches 
is  widely  different  from  that  in  the  Roman  and  Greek  churches. 
In  the  latter  the  priests  are  chosen  by  their  superiors, — the  bishops, 
etc.,  —  and  are  by  them  enabled  to  dispense  supernatural  grace 
through  the  sacraments.  In  a  certain  measure  this  view  as  to 
power  through  the  sacraments  is  held  by  the  High  Church  Epis- 
copalians and  by  the  Lutherans.  But  all  Calvinistic  Protestants 
and  their  descendants  hold  that  all  believers  are  priests  alike,  and 
receive  grace  directly  from  God,  not  through  sacerdotal  agency. 
Their  ministers  are  chosen  by  the  congregations,  though  under 
certain  restrictions  where  a  power  is  recognized  above  the  con- 
gregation, as  by  the  Presbyterians,  and  differ  from  their  brethren 
only  officially  and  by  natural  gifts  or  special  education.  This 
distinction  is  vital,  and  must  be  clearly  understood. 

The  Sacraments.  —  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  seven 
sacraments,  or  channels  of  divine  grace,  —  baptism,  Eucharist, 
confirmation,  penance,  holy  orders,  matrimony,  and  extreme  unc- 
tion. Protestants  have  kept  only  the  first  two.  The  other  five 
are  considered  in  the  chapter  on  "  The  Catholics."  There  is 
this  further  and  vital  distinction  between  the  two  parties,  —  that 
the  Catholic  considers  his  sacraments  to  be  in  themselves  the- 
vehicles  of  grace,  whatever  the  character  of  the  priest  may  be,  so 
long  as  he  is  in  regular  standing  in  the  Church,  and  whatever 
may  be  the  belief  of  the  recipient ;  the  Protestant  considers  bap- 
tism or  the  communion  as  simply  occasions  when  Cl<.  rist  comes  with 
special  power,  the  effect  upon  the  recipient  depending  entirely 
upon  his  own  faith,  or  spiritual  condition.  The  High  Church 
Episcopalians  and  the  Lutherans  approach  the  Catholics  in  giving 
a  mystical  or  magical  efficacy  to  these  rites. 


48  A    STUDY   OP    THE    SECTS. 

Baptism.  —  This  rite  originated  in  the  warm  Oriental  coun- 
tries, where  cleanliness  was  especially  necessary,  and  where  a  new 
ablution  was  made  the  symbol  of  the  purity  of  heart  required  of 
those  who  were  admitted  to  religious  sects.  Whether  it  was  a 
Jewish  rite  before  the  time  of  Christ  or  not,  is  uncertain.  Its 
first  appearance  in  the  Bible  is  in  the  account  of  John  the  Baptist. 
Although  there  are  texts  which  seem  to  represent  Jesus  as  enjoin- 
ing baptism,  it  is  remarkable  how  little  he  says  about  it;  an(l 
though  he  himself  submitted  to  baptism  by  John,  he  never  bap- 
tized any  of  his  disciples,  and  there  is  no  proof  that  all  even  of 
the  Apostles  underwent  that  ceremony.  It  is  impossible  for  any 
one  who  understands  the  true  distinction  between  Christianity 
and  Judaism  to  believe  that  Jesus  meant  to  make  any  ceremony 
indispensable  to  salvation. 

Yet  baptism  became  universal  among  his  successors  under  the 
form  of  immersion,  was  believed  to  have  a  supernatural  efficacy, 
and  by  200  had  come  to  be  considered  essential  to  salvation. 
Even  infants  dying  without  it  were  shut  out  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  though  this  involved  no  torment,  as  in  the  case  of  adults, 
but  only  loss  of  supernatural  blessedness.  Natural  happiness  in 
some  separate  region  could  still  be  theirs.  At  the  Reformation, 
the  form  having  changed  during  the  Middle  Ages  to  sprinkling  or 
pouring,  the  Lutherans  continued  this  belief,  holding  out  some 
hope  for  the  children  of  parents  in  the  Church,  but  showing  little 
mercy  to  others,  though  allowing  that  God's  purposes  here  are  in- 
scrutable. The  Church  of  England  held  substantially  this  posi- 
tion, The  Calvinists,  however,  denied  all  supernatural  efficacy  to 
baptism,  and  held  that  only  the  election  of  God  saves.  The  rite 
became  thus  the  seal  or  sign  of  a  salvation  already  effected,  being 
given  only  to  those  who  could  show  the  faith  which  election 
involves.  The  children  of  the  elect  who  died  in  infancy,  whether 
baptized  or  not,  were  considered  saved,  for  "  the  promise  is  to  you 
and  to  your  children."  The  Baptists,  however,  denied  that  infant 
baptism  had  any  meaning  whatever,  since  an  infant  could  not  be 
said  to  have  the  faith  implied  in  it;  while  for  adults  they  restored 
the  primitive  form  of  immersion.  The  Friends  abolished  the  rite 
entirely,  as  they  did  all  other  religious  ceremonies.  The  sects 


A   STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  49 

which  require  infant  baptism  expect  that  when  the  children  come 
to  the  age  of  reason  they  will  become  members  of  the  Cimrch  by 
profession  of  their  own  faith  or  conversion,  —  an  occasion  called 
among  Catholics  arid  Episcopalians  "confirmation."  Liberals 
(Unitarians  and  Universalists)  look  upon  baptism  as  an  act  of 
public  consecration  of  one's  life  to  God,  and  upon  infant  baptism 
as  an  act  of  dedication  of  the  children  by  their  parents  to  the 
service  of  God,  and  of  consecration  of  the  parents  themselves  to 
the  religious  training  of  their  children.  Some  make  it  also  the 
occasion  of  "christening,"  or  giving  the  "Christian"  name.  Xo 
efficacy,  of  course,  is  attributed  to  the  ceremony  except  its  power 
over  the  hearts  of  those  concerned  in  it. 

Communion.  —  This  ceremony  is  called  by  the  Catholics  the 
"  Mass  "  (from  the  words  missa  est,  with  which  the  congregation 
was  once  dismissed),  or  the  "Eucharist"  (from  a  Greek  word, 
which  means  "giving  thanks"),  because  of  the  prayer  of  thanks- 
giving in  it;  and  by  Protestants  the  "  Communion  "  (with  each 
other  and  with  Jesus),  the  "Lord's  Supper,"  and  the  "Last 
Supper." 

The  accounts  of  the  last  supper  which  Jesus  ate  with  his 
Apostles  do  not  seem  to  imply  that  he  meant  to  institute  a  reli- 
gious ceremony,  still  less  a  mystical  or  supernatural  rite.  It  was 
the  Passover  meal.  He  knew  it  was  his  last ;  and  with  a  yearning 
for  remembrance  among  those  whom  he  left  behind  he  asked  them 
to  recall  him  whenever  they  came  to  the  point  in  that  yearly  meal 
where  the  loaf  is  formally  broken  and  the  cup  passed.  This  wish 
was  gratified  by  his  disciples  after  the  daily  meal  which  they  were 
accustomed  to  take  together  — the  agape,  or  "love  feast"  — 
during  the  first  days  of  the  new  religion  in  Jerusalem.  The 
agape  was  given  up  early  in  the  second  century  (for  the  excesses 
sometimes  connected  with  it,  see  1  Cor.  xi.  20-22,  27-34);  and 
the  commemorative  part,  which  had  already  be<run  to  take  on  a 
mystical  meaning,  changed  in  this  direction  still  more  rapidly. 
At  the  end  of  the  second  century  non-communicants  were  sent  out 
of  the  church  before  the  ceremony.  Soon  it  was  commonly  be- 
lieved that  the  glorified  Christ  dwelt  in  the  elements  as  the  Logos 
had  once  dwelt  in  the  human  body.  In  831  Paschasius  Radbert,a 

4 


50  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

French  abbot,  maintained  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  actually 
changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  This  change  was 
called  trai. substantiation,  or  exchange  of  substance.  The  view 
gained  ground,  and  was  formally  adopted  in  1215. 

Protestantism  has  almost  exactly  retraced  the  path  of  this 
development.  The  Lutherans  went  back  as  far  as  "  consubstan- 
tiation,"  or  the  union  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  with  the  bread 
and  wine,  the  former  being  received  by  all  who  take  the  latter. 
Calvin  maintained  only  a  spiritual  presence  of  Christ,  who  is 
received  by  the  believer  alone.  Liberals  adopt  the  purely 
commemorative  use,  as  Zwingh  taught,  restoring  the  primitive 
custom. 

The  Catholic  gives  only  the  bread  to  the  laity,  reserving  the 
cup  for  the  priest  alone.  The  Baptists  of  America  refuse  to 
admit  to  communion  those  who  have  not  received  baptism  by 
immersion.  This  is  called  "  close  communion."  The  Orthodox 
Protestants  commonly  invite  to  remain  only  those  who  are  in  good 
and  regular  standing  in  Evangelical  churches.  The  Unitarians 
invite  all  to  remain  who  are  so  minded.  The  Catholic  holds  Mass 
several  times  on  Sunday,  besides  frequent  celebrations  during  the 
week,  and  masses  for  the  dead  by  special  arrangement.  Many 
Episcopal  churches  have  communion  every  Sunday,  sometimes 
twice,  and  some  of  them  every  morning  in  the  week.  Most  other 
Protestant  churches  have  it  on  the  first  Sunday  of  every  month, 
after  the  morning  service. 


QUESTIONS. 

Did  Jesus  found  a  church?  Did  the  Apostles?  How  did  the  first 
churches  prow  up?  What  is  the  Catholic  view  of  the  Church?  What  is 
its  relation  to  the  Bible  V  What  view  did  the  Reformers  take  ?  What  was 
their  distinction  between  the  visible  and  the  invisible  Church  ?  What  does 
the  Unitarian  hold  as  to  the  visible  Church  ?  as  to  the  invisible  ?  What 
differences  in  the  organization  of  churches  are  there  among  Protestants  ? 
What  differences  in  terms  of  admission  ? 

What  is  the  conception  of  the  clergy  in  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches  ? 
among  the  Protestants?  What  is  the  Catholic  view  of  the  sacraments? 
the  Protestant  view  ?  How  did  baptism  originate  ?  When  do  we  first  find 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  51 

it  mentioned  in  the  Bible  V  What  was  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  it  ?  Is  it 
likely  that  he  considered  it  essential  to  salvation?  Why?  What  change 
came  over  it  after  New  Testament  times  ?  What  view  of  infant  baptism 
arose  V  What  is  the  Lutheran  view  of  baptism  ?  the  Calvinistic  ?  the 
Baptist  ?  that  of  the  Friends  ?  What  is  continuation  ?  What  is  the  Liberal 
view  of  baptism?  of  infant  baptism? 

What  various  names  are  given  to  the  communion  service  ?  What  was 
probably  the  meaning  of  Jesus'  words  at  the  Last  Supper  about  "remember- 
ing" him  ?  How  was  his  wish  at  first  gratified  V  What  was  the  difference 
between  the  at/ape  and  the  Lord's  Supper?  What  changes  did  the  com- 
munion service  undergo  in  Catholic  history  ?  What  is  transubstantiation? 
consubstantiation?  What  was  Calvin's  view?  Zwingli's?  How  does  the 
Catholic  administer  the  elements?  What  is  "close  communion"?  How 
is  the  invitation  commonly  given  in  Orthodox  churches  ?  in  Unitarian 
churches  ?  How  often  is  the  Mass  celebrated  in  Catholic  churches  ?  the 
communion  in  Episcopal  churches  ?  in  other  churches  ?  Do  you  attend 
communion  ?  Why  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  various  views  of  Christians  may  be  found  in  the  works  on  general 
theology  named  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  See  also  Dean  Stanley's 
Christian  J  nstitutions ;  Channing's  sermon  on  "The  Church;"  Theodore 
Parker,  Discourse  of  Matters  pertaining  to  Religion,  chap.  v.  Albert  Barnes 
(Presbyterian)  opposes  Episcopacy  in  The  Apostolic  Church;  F.  D.  Maurice 
gives  a  moderate  view  of  it  in  The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  Hooker's  Eccle- 
siastical Polity  is  a  standard  on  the  Anglican  side.  Newman  in  his  Apologia 
pro  mea  Vita  tells  the  story  of  his  change  from  the  Anglican  t<>  the  Koman 
Church.  See. also  Congregationalism,  by  H.  M.  Dexter;  Cardinal  Wise- 
man's Lectures  on  the  Real  Presence  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  (Catholic); 
A.  W.  Little's  Reasons  for  being  a  Churchman  (High  Church  Episcopal); 
J.  W.  Nevin1s  The  Mystical  Presence  (Calvinistic);  A.  N.  Arnold's  Pre- 
requisites to  Communion  (Baptist);  S.  G.  Bulfinch's  Communion  Thoughts 
(Unitarian);  Martineau's  The  Seat  of  Authority  in  Religion,  pp  127-169, 
513-540. 

William  Wall's  The  History  of  Infant  Baptism  is  a  standard  work. 
J.  B.  Mozley's  The  Primitive  Doctrine  of  baptismal  Regeneration  gives 
the  Anglican  view.  Francis  Wayland,  Principles  and  Practice  of  Baptist 
Churches:  Leonard  Woods  (Congregationalist),  Lectures  on  Infant  Baptism. 
Sea  also  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  article  '•  Baptism." 


52  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 

THERE  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,'  .  .  .  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism, 
one  God  and  Father  of  all.  — EPH.  iv.  4-6. 

Name.  —  The  official  name  of  the  organization  is  "  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church,"  —  Roman,  because  its  centre  is  at  Rome,  Italy; 
Catholic  (or  universal),  because  it  claims  jurisdiction  over  all 
mankind. 

History.  —  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  in  form  the  Roman 
Empire  extended  over  the  world  with  ecclesiastical  instead  of 
secular  functions.  The  graded  system  of  officers,  the  skilfully 
codified  law,  and  the  assumption  of  supreme  authority  are  closely 
imitated  from  the  ancient  Roman  dominion.  The  process  was 
natural.  Whether  Peter  was  ever  in  Rome,  as  Catholics  claim, 
or  not,  and  whether  his  primacy  among  the  Apostles  was  granted 
or  not,  whoever  was  the  head  of  the  churches  in  Rome  would 
become  the  head  of  all  the  churches  of  the  Empire.  The  first 
bishops  about  whom  we  are  certain  were  men  of  great  force  of 
character  and  executive  ability ;  and  as  the  emperors  grew  feebler 
and  less  respected,  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  came  to  the  front. 
The  earnestness  of  Christian  zeal  and  confidence  stepped  into  the 
place  of  the  decaying  public  spirit  and  private  manhood.  The 
transfer  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Constantinople,  in  330,  left 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  in  still  greater  prominence.  At  last,  in  Leo 
the  Great  (440-446),  the  Church  came  to  a  full  consciousness  of 
its  opportunity,  and  shaped  its  course  accordingly.  Under 
Gregory  the  Great  (590-604)  the  Church  was  roused  to  a  mission- 
ary spirit ;  and  by  750  all  Europe,  even  to  Norway  and  Iceland, 
was  under  its  teaching.  Meantime,  by  the  Seven  Great  Councils 
(325-787),  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  had  been  defined.  The 
gift  of  a  large  territory  to  the  Pope  by  Pepin,  king  of  the  Franks 
(755),  laid  the  foundation  of  the  "temporal  power."  The 
"Isidorean  Decretals,"  a  collection  of  documents  purporting  to 
be  very  ancient,  but  largely  forged,  —  especially  the  "  Donation 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  53 

of  Constantine,"  by  which  sovereignty  over  the  West  was  given  to 
the  Pope,  —  strengthened  the  papal  authority  over  the  provincial 
bishops.  Corruptions  crept  in,  which  were  stoutly  opposed  by 
Gregory  VIL  (Hildebrand),  who  closely  organized  the  Church 
throughout.  Under  Boniface  VIII.  (1294-1303)  the  papal  power 
was  at  its  height ;  but  from  this  time  its  decline  was  speedy, 
The  resistance  of  kings,  the  rising  national  consciousness,  the 
quickening  of  intellectual  life,  the  revolt  of  the  popular  moral  sense 
against  the  corruptions  of  priest  and  pope,  and  the  rivalries  of 
competing  popes,  — all  combined  to  check  and  retard  the  progress 
of  the  Church.  Councils  for  internal  reform  having  failed,  the 
Reformation  began  outside.  Its  progress  was  stopped  and  much 
ground  won  back  by  the  counter- re  formation  within  the  Church, 
led  by  the  Jesuits,  and  formulated  by  the  Council  of  Trent 
(1545-1563). 

The  chief  events  in  the  history  of  the  Church  since  the  Council 
of  Trent  have  been  the  proclamation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
"  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary"  (1854);  of  the 
"  Syllabus  of  Errors"  (1864),  in  which  the  Church  set  itself 
squarely  against  modern  Intellectual  tendencies;  and  of  the  "In- 
fallibility of  the  Pope"  (1870);  the  abolition  of  the  "Temporal 
Power  r' in  the  same  year;  and  the  "Old  Catholic"  movement 
under  Hyacinthe,  Ddllinrjer,  and  Reinkens,  — an  attempt  to  bring 
back  the  Church  to  the  position*  of  the  earlier  centuries,  when 
councils,  not  Popes,  were  th^  source  of  authority.  The  attitude  of 
the  Church  is  now  very  different  from  that  which  it  took  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  even  in  lands  where  it  contains  the  majority  of 
Christians.  Its  reliance  Is,  to  a  larger  extent,  upon  moral  and 
spiritual  means  of  influence,  its  internal  condition  is  purer,  and  its 
spirit  more  earnest ;  hut  its  pretensions  to  universal  authority  and 
its  ambition  to  realize  these  remain,  of  course,  unchanged. 

In  the  United  States  settlements  were  made  by  Catholics  in 
Maryland  under  Lord  Baltimore  (1634),  and  in  other  parts,  —  as 
Florida,  Louisiana,  New  Mexico,  and  California,  —  which  were 
settled  by  Catholic  nations.  The  first  bishop  was  appointed  in 
1789  at  Baltimore.  The  growth  of  the  Church  has  been  mainly 
from  immigration,  —  as  from  Ireland,  Southern  Germany,  Italy, 


54  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

and  the  French  part  of  Canada.  Its  later  career  m  the  United 
States  has  been  marked  by  its  opposition  to  the  public-school 
system  and  its  establishment  of  parochial  schools  of  its  own. 

Doctrines.  —  The  distinctive  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  one  which  must  be  thoroughly  understood  before  its 
history  and  claims  can  be  comprehended,  is  that  it  is  the  divinely 
established  and  sustained  Church  of  God  upon  the  earth,  and 
His  only  Church.  It  was  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
solemn  words  which  made  the  Apostle  Peter  its  foundation 
rock.  Its  legitimacy  is  secured  by  an  unbroken  succession  of 
Popes.  By  their  infallibility  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  it  is  kept  from  error  in  the  interpretation  or  unfolding  of 
doctrine.  It  is  thus  a  supernatural  institution,  and  therefore 
cannot  submit  its  teachings  to  natural  reason,  or  ajlow  its  spiritual 
authority  to  be  controlled  by  any  earthly  power.  It  must  obey 
God  rather  than  man. 

The  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope  needs  to 
be  distinctly  understood.  He  is  not  personally,  but  officially  infal- 
lible ;  that  is,  he  is  not  beyond  error  in  his  opinion  upon  ordinary 
matters,  but  only  when  pronouncing  judgment  upon  matters  of 
doctrine  or  morals  formally  laid  before  him  by  the  Church.  The 
judgment  which  he  then  pronounces  is  final,  irrevocable,  and 
infallible.  This  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Pope's  personal  char- 
acter, any  more  than  with  his  personal  knowledge  or  mental 
powrr.  The  Church  claims  that  no  such  decision  of  Pope  or 
General  Council  has  ever  been  revoked. 

As  a  source  of  truth,  the  decisions  of  the  Church  must  take 
precedence  of  any  private  interpretation  of  Scripture.  As  the 
Supreme  Court  is  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  so  is 
the  Church  to  the  Bible.  The  consequence,  the  reductio  ad 
alxurdum,  of  the  Protestant  principle  of  private  judgment  is  the 
number  of  contradictory  sects  and  the  variety  of  individual  opin- 
ions in  the  different  commentaries.  An  infallible  Book  is  of  no 
value  without  an  infallible  Church  to  guarantee  the  correctness  of 
its  text,  the  faithfulness  of  translation,  and  the  truthfulness  of 
interpretation.  The  Church  does  not  encourage  the  indiscrimi- 
nate reading  of  the  Bible  by  the  uneducated;  but  it  regards 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  55 

the  Bible  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  of  which  it,  not  the 
uneducated  reader,  is  the  divinely  appointed  interpreter. 

The  central  part  of  its  worship  is  the  Mass.  Hi^h  Mass  is  sung; 
low  Mass  is  read.  There  are  two  essential  pans  of  this  service, 
—  the  change  (transubstantiation)  of  the  bread  and  wine  into 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  offering  or  sacrifice  of 
them  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  The  Catholic  puts  the  most 
literal  construction  upon  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  This  is  my  body; 
this  is  my  blood"  (Matt.  xxvi.  26,  28).  He  believes  that  though 
to  the  senses  the  elements  remain  the  same,  in  substance  they  are 
changed  into  the  veritable  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord.  These 
are  then  sacrificed  at  the  altar  in  perpetual  memorial  of  the  ori- 
ginal sacrifice  upon  the  cross.  The  bread,  which  is  baked  in  the 
form  of  little  round  cakes,  or  wafers,  is  after  consecration  dis- 
tributed to  the  communicants.  The  wine,  however,  is  drunk  only 
by  the  priest.  The  reasons  for  this  are,  first,  that  the  Church 
teaches  that  u  Christ  is  contained  whole  and  entire  under  each 
species  **  (see  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  —  the  word  "  or  "  in  Revised  Version) ; 
secondly,  practical  considerations,  —  as  the  quantity  of  wine  that 
would  be  needed,  the  undes-irability  of  many  drinking  from  one 
cup,  and  the  danger  of  dropping  or  spilling. 

Admission  into  the  Catholic  Church  is  by  baptism  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  Inasmuch  as  all 
men  inherit  the  taint  of  sin  from  Adam,  and  are  born  enemies  of 
God,  a  new  birth,  or  regeneration,  is  necessary.  Even  infants 
who  are  unbaptized,  though  they  do  not  go  to  torments,  fall  short 
of  the  perfect  happiness  of  the  saved.  If  any  man  be  "  heartily 
sorry  for  his  sins,  and  loves  God  with  his  whole  heart,  and  de- 
sires to  comply  with  all  the  divine  ordinances,"  the  pouring  of 
water  upon  him  becomes  the  vehicle  of  supernatural  grace, 
washing  away  original  sin,  and  begetting  a  new  and  spiritual 
life.  This  life  is  constantly  fed  by  reception  of  the  Lord's  body 
in  the  Holy  Communion,  and  thus  is  prepared  for  the  heavenly 
mansions. 

The  Holy  Communion  and  Baptism  are  called  **  sacraments." 
A  sacrament  is  the  visible  sign  of  invisible  grace.  There  are 
seven  in  all  in  this  church,  the  remaining  five  being  Confirmation, 


56  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

by  which  baptized  persons  of  ripe  years  are  confirmed,  or  strength- 
ened in  soul  by  the  reception  of  fresh  supplies  of  divine  grace; 
Penance,  or  absolution  for  sins  by  the  priest ;  Extreme  Unction, 
the  anointing  of  the  sick  with  holy  oil,  usually  when  they  are 
expected  to  die ;  Orders,  for  priests  and  other  ecclesiastics  ;  and 
Matrimony,  by  which  special  grace  is  given  that  the  wedded 
couple  may  live  together  in  love  and  harmony. 

Some  other  peculiarities  of  worship  should  be  noticed.  The 
Latin  language  only  is  used  by  the  priests  in  the  Mass  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  because  this  was  the  common 
language  when  the  Church  was  established ;  because  a  common 
language  is  still  needed  by  a  church  which  extends  over  the 
•world;  because  she  wishes  her  liturgy  to  be  always  and  every- 
where the  same,  safe  from  the  changes  which  come  to  all  living 
languages;  and  because  the  worship,  being  addressed  to  God,  not 
to  men,  may  as  well  be  in  Latin  as  in  any  other  language.  The 
congregation  follows  the  worship  by  means  of  a  translation. 
The  lighted  candles  upon  the  altar  commemorate  the  time  when 
the  Christians  worshipped  in  the  dark  catacombs,  and  are  symbols 
of  him  who  is  the  light  of  the  world,  of  our  light  which  should 
shine  before  men,  and  of  spiritual  joy.  Incense  is  an  emblem  of 
prayer,  ascending  like  smoke  from  hearts  burning  with  love.  The 
flowers  are  meant  to  adorn  the  place  where  God  comes  to  dwell. 
The  vestments  of  the  priest  are  signs  of  his  sacred  and  peculiar 
office,  and  are  intended  to  be  beyond  the  influence  of  changing 
fashion. 

Besides  conducting  public  worship,  the  priest  deals  with  his 
people  individually  by  the  confessional.  The  Catholic  Church 
claims  that  power  was  given  to  it  to  forgive  sins  (Matt.  xvi.  18,  19  : 
John  xx.  21-23).  To  receive  this  forgiveness,  the  sinner  must 
not  only  repent,  but  if  possible  confess  his  sins  to  the  priest,  prom- 
ise amendment  and  restitution,  and  submit  to  whatever  penance 
mav  be  imposed  upon  him.  It  is  claimed  that  in  this  way  control 
or  influence  over  people  is  secured  better  than  in  any  other  way, 
and  for  better  results.  It  is  in  the  power  of  the  Church  also  to 
give  indulgence.  This  word  is  used  by  the  Church  in  its  original 
sense  of  gentleness  or  mercy,  not  in  its  present  sense  of  condoning 


A    STUDY    OP    THE    SECTS.  57 

weakness.  It  is  not  permission,  but  remission.  The  consequences 
of  any  sinful  act  are  three,  —  the  stain  of  guilt  upon  the  soul, 
eternal  punishment  (if  the  sin  be  mortal),  and  the  temporal  conse- 
quences which  may  follow  either  in  this  life  or  in  purgatory.  The 
first  two  are  washed  away  by  baptism  or  absolution.  It  is  the 
temporal  punishment  only  that  is  remitted  in  an  ''indulgence." 
The  merits  of  the  innocent  Christ,  and  those  of  the  saints  and 
martyrs  whose  sufferings  were  greater  than  their  sins  required, 
constitute  a  u  treasury "  upon  which  the  Church  can  draw  in 
behalf  of  sinners  who  are  truly  repentant.  On  condition  of  good 
deeds  to  be  done  by  them,  —  as  almsgiving,  pilgrimages,  etc.,  — 
a  remission  of  temporal  suffering  is  assured.  If  time  is  named, 
as  a  "forty-days  indulgence,"  it  means  so  much  remission  as 
would  have  been  secured  by  forty  days  of  penance  under  the  old 
laws  of  the  Church.  The  system  is  evide ntly  easy  to  abuse,  as  to 
misunderstand;  but  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  that  an  indulgence 
is  useless  without  sincere  repentance  and  amendment  must  be 
carefully  separated  from  the  misinterpretations  and  misuse  of  its 
officers. 

Besides  the  worship  of  God,  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  the 
invocation  of  saints,  including  the  Virgin  Mary,  as  intercessors 
with  God.  As  the  Protestant  asks  his  friends  or  his  minister  to 
pray  for  him,  so  the  Catholic  a^ks  his  more  powerful  friends  in 
heaven  to  pray  for  him.  The  Church  encourages  also  the  use  of 
images,  especially  of  the  crucifix,  as  aids  to  the  imagination  in 
devotion,  since  they  make  the  object  of  worship  more  real,  as  a 
photograph  makes  our  distant  friends.  But  it  does  not  allow 
worship  of  the  image  itself. 

It  holds  also  to  an  intermediate  state  between  hell  and  heaven, 
called  purgatory,  or  the  place  where  lesser  sins  can  be  expiated, 
or  sins  not  fully  punished  here  may  receive  the  remainder  of  the 
penalty  due  them  (1  Cor.  iii.  13-15).  Those  who  die  in  grave 
unpardoned  sins  go  into  eternal  and  irremediable  torment  ;  but 
those  who  are  in  purgatory  may  be  prayed  for,  and  so  helped. 
For  the  Church  holds  that  prayers  for  friends  in  purgatory  are  as 
efficacious  as  prayers  for  friends  in  distant  lands,  or  in  peril  or  sin 
on  the  earth. 


58  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

The  Catholic  Church  admits  no  divorce  from  marriage  (Matt, 
xix.  3-9).  It  allows  separation,  but  no  re-marriage.  It  praises 
celibacy  as  superior  to  the  wedded  life  (Matt  xix.  12  ;  1  Cor.  vii. 
32,  33),  and  as  following  the  example  of  Jesus  and  all  the  Apostles 
except  Peter,  who,  it  claims,  gave  up  his  wife  when  he  was  called 
(Matt.  xix.  27).  It  demands  celibacy  of  its  clergy,  because  of 
the  sacredness  of  their  office  and  their  greater  ability  to  concen- 
trate themselves  upon  their  work.  It  regards  the  married  state  as 
a  holy  sacrament  instituted  by  Christ  for  those  who  have  not  been 
called  to  a  higher  state. 

On  many  points  the  Catholic  Church  holds  the  same  belief  as 
the  "  Evangelical "  Protestant  churches ;  namely,  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  the  Trinity,  the  deity  of  Christ,  the  sin  of  all  men  in 
Adam  and  their  merited  eternal  punishment,  their  redemption  by 
the  suffering  and  deith  of  Christ,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
and  the  everlasting  happiness  of  the  saved.  An  important  differ- 
ence, however,  arises  between  the  two  bodies  as  to  justification,- — 
the  Protestant  making  faith  alone  the  ground  of  acceptance  with 
God,  the  Catholic  requiring  both  faith  and  the  reception  of  the 
sacraments.  Infants  are  justified  by  baptism,  which  conveys  to 
them,  sanctifying  grace,  and  restores  to  them  the  righteousness  lost 
at  the  Fall.  On  coming  to  the  use  of  reason,  those  who  have  been 
baptized  in  infancy  must  have  faith  in  God  and  love  to  God. 

Government.  —  The  head  of  the  Church  is  the  Pope,  — 
"vicar  of  Christ,  head  of  the  bishops,  and  supreme  governor  of 
the  whole  Cathol'C  Church,  of  whom  the  whole  world  is  the  terri- 
tory, or  diocese."  He  is  also  patriarch  of  the  West  and  bishop  of 
Rome  and  its  district,  and  was  temporal  ruler  over  the  "Pontifical 
States"  till  these  were  absorbed  in  the  Kingdom  of  Italy.  He  is 
absolute  in  power  and  infallible  as  above  defined.  He  is  elected 
for  life  by  the  cardinals,  of  whom  there  are  seventy-four,  who 
were  originally  occupants  of  parishes  in  Rome,  but  have  now 
larger  powers  and  often  distant  residences.  The  government  of 
the  Church  is  carried  on  by  a  number  of  councils,  or  ministries, 
called  "  congregations,"  each  presided  over  by  a  cardinal,  com- 
posed of  distinguNied  ecclesiastics,  and  caring  for  some  depart- 
ment,—  as  Inquisition,  Propagation  of  the  Faith  (Propaganda)* 


A    STUDY    OF    THE   SECTS.  59 

Bishops,  etc.  Out  in  the  world  the  work  is  presided  over  by  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  who  receive  power  from  the  Pope  over 
special  districts,  or  dioceses,  and  have  under  them  priests,  who 
come  into  direct  contact  with  the  people  in  administering  sacra- 
ments and  doing  parochial  work.  There  are  various  other  offices, 
not  necessary  to  describe. 

Statistics.  —  The  number  of  Catholics  in  the  world  is  difficult 
to  determine,  since  the  Church  publishes  no  official  list.  Tolerably 
trustworthy  authorities  give  over  210,000,000,  of  whom  154,000,000 
are  in  Europe.  There  are  74  cardinals,  920  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops, 165  vicars,  etc. 

In  the  United  States  there  are  (1890)  one  cardinal,  14  arch- 
bishops, 74  bishops,  8,4G3  priests,  and  adherents  estimated  between 
eight  and  thirteen  millions,  probably  about  ten  millions.  There 
are  102  colleges,  635  academies,  and  35  theological  seminaries. 


The  Roman  Catholic  stands  at  the  opposite  extreme  of  the  line 
of  Christian  bodies  from  the  Unitarian,  representing  the  most 
complete  submission  to  authority  as  opposed  to  reliance  upon  the 
inner  voice  and  li^ht  of  reason  and  conscience,  and  close  and 
complete  organization  as  opposed  to  individualism  and  voluntary 
association.  It  is  a  fair  question  whether  there  is  any  halting- 
ground  between  the  two.  The  Catholic  seems  to  be  right  in 
claiming  that  an  infallible  Book  without  an  infallible  Interpreter 
cannot  be  a  ground  of  certitude  in  religion,  and  that  the  number 
of  Protestant  sects  proves  this.  Thy  Evangelical  Protestant  posi- 
tion is  a  mixture  of  authority  and  reason  in  varying  and  uncer- 
tain proportions,  and  without  the  strength  of  either!  The  same 
is  true  of  its  varying  forms  of  church  government. 

Yet,  though  at  the  opposite  extreme  as  to  the  grounds  of  belief, 
the  Catholic  often  approaches  the  Unitarian  in  single  points  of 
belief,  and  seems  really  broader  than  the  Evangelical  Protestant 
He  is  freer  than  the  latter  in  his  handling  of  Scripture,  feeling 
secure  from  serious  error  under  the  control  of  the  Church;  gives 
mor«  credit  to  the  every-day  v  rtues  of  mankind,  —  as  honesty, 
purity,  and  charity,  —  sneering  less  at  "mere  morality;"  and  is 
more  generous  and  kindly  in  his  view  of  the  future  life  so  far  as 
purgatory  is  concerned.  Even  his  doctrine  of  the  infallibility 
of  the  Pope  hints  of  the  ever-present  Spirit,  whose  revelations 


60  A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 

did  not  cease  eighteen  centuries  ago.  The  Catholic  Church 
deserves  also  great  credit  for  its  principle  of  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  God,  building  its  costly  churches  among  the  poor  as 
well  as  among  the  rich,  and  making  the  two  classes  equal  in  the 
house  of  worship  Its  confessional,  though  open  to  terrible  abuse, 
has  done  immense  good  in  controlling  the  lives  of  many,  espe- 
cially of  the  young  women  in  large  cities,  who  often  have  no  other 
guidance. 

In  a  wider,  historical  way  the  civilized  world  owes  a  great  debt 
to  the  Roman  Church.  Duiing  the  chaos  which  followed  the 
overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  the  Northern  barbarians,  the 
Church  was  the  only  power  which  was  respected.  It  conquered 
the  conquerors,  and  mollified  to  some  degree  their  rough  manners. 
It  still  has  a  hold  upon  classes  among  us  which  no  other  religious 
body  seems  able  to  reach.  It  became  the  refuge  of  men  of  letters, 
and  the  guardian  of  manuscripts.  It  encouraged  art  and  music. 
Within  itself  rank  counted  for  little  or  nothing,  and  the  h  ghest 
offices  were  open  to  men  of  humblest  birth  who  had  the  ability  to 
reach  and  fill  them. 

Yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  that  it  claims  an  authority  in  religious  matters 
which  nothing  else  on  earth  can  have,  directly  antagonizes  the 
fundamental  principle  of  modern  life,  that  truth  comes  through 
the  individual  reason,  not  through  institutions.  Such  power 
as  the  Catholic  Church  claims  might  be  confined  only  to  spirit- 
ual matters,  and  be  used  only  persuasively;  but  history  has 
shown  that  supposed  infallibility,  whether  in  Catholic  or  Protes- 
tant, whether  in  sacred  or  secular  affairs,  is  too  great  a  temptation 
for  human  nature  to  bear.  Both  the  political  power  which  is  free 
from  responsibility  to  the  people  and  the  intellectual  power  that 
is  free  from  open  discussion  have  proved  insufferable  tyrannies 
and  bars  to  progress.  The  divine  right  of  kings  is  gone ;  the 
divine  right  of  churches  must  go.  The  latter  already  denies  the 
free  use  of  reason,  and  given  power  to  enforce  its  claims,  may 
easily  menace  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  the  future  as  it  has  in 
the  past.  That  the  Catholic  Church  is  thoroughly  sincere  and 
earnest  in  its  own  belief  makes  it  all  the  more  formidable. 


QUESTIONS 

What  is  the  official  name  of  those  who  are  commonly  called  the  Catholics, 
and  what  does  it  mean  ?  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Roman  Church  to  the 
Roman  Empire  V  Describe  the  process  of  replacement,  When  and  by  whom 
was  its  opportunity  made  clear  ?  Who  was  the  great  missionary  Pope  V 
How  were  the  dootrinos  fir«t  defined?  What  is  meant  by  the  "temporal 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  61 

power,"  and  how  did  it  begin?  What  were  the  "Forged  Decretals"? 
Who  was  the  greatest  reforming  and  organizing  Pope?  When  was  the 
powef  of  the  Church  at  its  height  ?  What  causes  led  to  its  downfall  ? 
What  was  the  Reformation  ?  the  counter-reformation  ?  What  great  council 
fixed  the  modern  policy  of  the  Church  ?  What  are  the  chief  events  since 
then  ?  What  gives  strength  to  the  Catholics  here  ? 

Name  the  distinctive  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  What  is 
meant  by  the  ''infallibility"  of  the  Pope  ?  What  is  the  relation  of  Church 
authority  to  the  Scriptures?  What  is  the  Mass?  What  does  "traiisub- 
stantiation  "  mean  ?  What  constitutes  admission  i  to  the  Church  ?  What 
does  baptism  imply?  What  is  a  sacrament,  and  how  many  are  there? 
Why  is  Latin  used  ?  What  do  the  candles,  incense,  vestments  mean  ? 
What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  confessional  ?  Do  you  think  it  would  be  useful 
to  you  ?  What  is  an  "indulgence  "  ?  What  wrong  ideas  of  this  are  among 
Protestants  ?  How  do  you  think  it  could  be  abused  ?  What  is  the  '•  invo- 
cation of  saints,"  and  what  can  be  said  for  it  ?  What  against  it  ?  What  is 
"purgatory"?  Compare  this  view  with  that  of  many  Protestant  sects. 
What  is  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  divorce?  of  celibacy? 

Who  is  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  ?  What  other  offices 
does  he  hold  ?  Who  are  the  cardinals  ?  What  are  the  "  congregations  "  ? 
Name  some  of  their  departments.  What  other  officers  are  there  ?  How 
many  Catholics  are  there  in  the  world  ?  in  this  country  ? 

What  are  the  main  points  of  difference  between  Catholics  and  Unitarians  ? 
In  what  points  do  they  approach  each  other  ?  Wherein  are  they  more 
liberal  than  "  Evangelical  "  Protestants  ?  For  what  do  they  deserve  credit? 
Why  should  they  be  opposed  ?  Do  you  think  a  Catholic  can  be  a  patriot  ? 
a  scientist  ?  What  is  his  position  toward  our  public  schools?  How  does 
this  follow  from  his  doctrine  ?  Would  he  persecute  to-day,  if  he  had  power, 
as  he  did  in  the  Middle  Ages  ?  What  has  America  to  fear  from  him? 
What  do  you  think  of  the  Catholics  you  know  ?  What  is  your  chief  objec- 
tion to  them  ?  What  good  can  you  see  that  they  do  here?  Do  you  think 
they  are  sincere  ?  How  ought  we  to  act  toward  them  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  best  popular  work  on  the  Catholic  side,  for  both  doctrine  and  his- 
tory, is  Addis  and  Arnold's  Catholic  Dictionary,  which  is  semi-official. 
La  Harbe's  Catechism  contains  a  short  summary.  Longer  histories  are 
Alzog's,  in  three  volumes,  and  Db'llinger's,  in  four.  By  Protestant  authors,, 
an  admirable  epitome  is  J.  H.  Allen's  Outline  of  Christian  History;  good  is 
J.  H.  Blunt's  Key  to  Church  History,  2  small  volumes.  On  the  whole,  the 
best  history  for  common  reading  is  Fisher's.  Besides  the  general  histories 
of  Neander,  Gieseler,  Hagenbach,  see  Milman's  Latin  Christianity,  8  vols. 


62  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

(to  about  1450);  Ranke's  History  of  tie  Popes  in  the  Sixteenth  and  Seven- 
teenth Centuries;  and  Macaulay's  famous  review  of  it  in  his  Essays;  Bryce's 
Holy  Roman  Empire;  Lea's  Saccrd<,tal  Celibacy  and  Inquisition;  Leckv's 
History  of  European  Morals  ;  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  articles  '*  Popedom," 
"Roman  Catholic  Church"  (the  latter  valuable  as  to  government),  and 
"  Jesuits."  As  to  the  Church  in  America,  see  histories  bv  J..  G.  Shea,  Pres- 
cott's  Mexico,  Parkman's  Jesuits  in  North  America,  and  many  references 
on  special  periods  and  phases  at  the  close  of  Fisher. 

tor  the  best  popular  compend  of  Catholic  doctrine,  see  Cardinal  Gibbons's 
The  Faith  of  Oar  fathers.  Newman's  Apolvyia  is  in  every  way  important, 
but  especially  as  showing  the  relation,  in  his  mind,  between  the  Churches 
of  England  and  Rome.  See,  also,  Martineau's  Authority  in  Rtligion,  book 
ii.  chap.  1.  Per  contra,  see  R.  F.  Littledale's  Plain  Reasons  against  joining 
the  Church  of  Ruine.  The  great  creeds  are  given  in  Schaff,  vol.  i. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  OLD  CATHOLICS. 

WHEN  Peter  was  come  to  Antioch,  I  withstood  him  to  the  face,  for  he 
was  to  be  blamed.  —  GAL.  ii.  11. 

THE  Vatican  Council  of  1869-70  was  a  triumph  of  the 
"Ultramontane,"  or  extreme  p-ipal,  party  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  By  the  decree  of  p^pal  infallibility  it  placed  the  Pope 
beyond  the  power  of  councils,  and  thus  of  bishops  or  national 
churches.  Most  of  the  powerful  minority  of  eighty-eight  dis- 
sentients and  ninety-one  non-voters,  out  of  the  whole  number  of 
seven  hundred  and  forty-four,  after  a  long  and  often  bitter  struggle, 
accepted  the  decree.  But  Dr.  Dollinger,  of  Bonn,  Germany,  the 
foremost  of  German  Catholic  scholars,  refused,  and  with  his 
colleague,  Professor  Friedrich,  was  excommunicated  in  1871.  In 
September  of  that  year  a  conference  of  five  hundred  delegates 
was  held  in  Munich,  and  an  attempt  was  made  at  union  with  the 
Greek  and  Russian  churches  and  an  "understanding  "  with  the 
Protestant  and  Episcopal  communions.  The  consecration  of  Dr. 
Reiakens  as  bishop  by  a  Dutch  bishop  gave  the  advantage  of 


A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS,  63 

"apostolic  succession ; J>  the  Prussian  government  legalized  the 
body,  and  for  a  while  it  gained  rapidly  among  the  cultivated 
people  of  Germany  and  Switzerland.  In  Paris,  Pere  Hyacinthe 
(Loyson),  the  famous  preacher  at  Notre  Dame,  a  devout  believer 
in  the  rights  of  the  Gallican  Church  as  against  absolute  papal 
power,  became  an  ally.  The  design  of  the  Old  Catholics  was  to 
return  to  the  ancient  faith  and  practice  of  the  Church  as  laid 
down  by  the  Seven  Great  Councils,  before  787,  untainted  by 
papal  usurpations  and  later  doctrines.  This  would  include  the 
supremacy  of  councils,  the  equality  of  laity  with  the  clergy  in 
them,  the  marriage  of  priests,  the  use  of  the  vernacular  in  public 
worship>  and  the  abolition  of  compulsory  fasting  and  confession. 
More  emphasis  was  also  laid  upon  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 
But  the  movement  made  no  impression  upon  the  masses ;  was, 
like  Protestantism,  essentially  Teutonic  in  its  range;  and  was 
bitterly  fought  by  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  influence  at  length 
brought  also  political  pressure  to  bear  upon  it.  Of  late  years  it 
has  made  no  gains,  and  is  probably  declining. 


QUESTIONS. 

What  was  the  occasion  of  the  Old  Catholic  movement  ?  What  does 
'*  Ultramontane  ''  mean  ?  Was  the  council  a  unit  on  the  doctrine  of  infalli- 
bility ?  What  did  the  beaten  party  (for  example,  Dr.  Newman)  do  after  the 
decision?  Was  this  right?  Who  were  the  leaders  in  the  new  movement? 
Who  was  its  first  bishop  ?  What  was  its  first  condition  ?  What  is  its 
condition  now,  and  why  ?  What  are  its  main  doctrines  ?  Where  does  it 
stop  short  of  Protestantism?  Ought  Unitarians  to  sympathize  with  it,  and 
how  far  ? 

REFERENCES. 

See  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  "Old  Catholics;  "  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  191- 
202;  Catholic  Reform,  by  Father  Hyacinthe,-  The  New  Reformation,  by 
Theodoras. 

On  the  Vatican  Council,  see  Schaff's  The  Vatican  Decrees;  The 
Pope  and  the  Council,  by  James  (ascribed  to  Dollinger  and  Friedrich); 
Letters  from  Rome  on  the  Council,  by  Friedrich  and  others  (from  th« 
Old  Catholic  point  of  view)  5  and  a  recent  work  by  Thomas  Mozley. 


64  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

*  .    * 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE   EASTERN   CHURCH. 

THE  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  In  Antioch.  —  ACTS  xi.  26. 

Name, —  The  full  name  is  "The  Holy  Oriental  Orthodox 
Catholic  Apostolic  Church,"  the  emphasis  being  upon  the  word 
"Orthodox,"  as  in  the  name  of  the  "Roman  Catholic  Church," 
the  emphasis  Is  upon  "  Catholic." 

History.  —  The  Eastern  Church  holds  the  birthplace  of  Chris 
tianity,  Jerusalem,  and  the  place  where  it  was  christened,  Anti- 
och. Its  language  is  largely  that  which  Jesus  and  the  Apostles 
spoke,  and  the  great  Councils  which  first  defined  the  faith  of 
Christendom  were  summoned  and  controlled  by  Greek  emperors 
and  bishops.  But  after  those  Councils  it  became  stagnant,  and 
except  in  Russia,  has  made  no  advance  and  no  conquest,  while  it 
contains  the  lowest  types  of  Christianity  to  be  found,  —  as  the 
Christians  of  Abyssinia,  and  even  some  of  the  Russian  sects. 
With  the  increasing  prominence  of  Russia,  Greece,  and  the 
Balkan  realms,  however,  the  Eastern  Church  may  yet  revive  and 
spread. 

The  Council  of  Nicsea  (325)  recognized  three  Patriarchs,  or 
heads  of  main  divisions  of  the  Christian  Church,  —  those  of  Rome, 
Alexandria,  and  Antioch.  Two  more,  at  Jerusalem  and  Con- 
stantinople, were  afterward  added.  Differences  of  language  and 
customs,  added  to  distance,  naturally  separated  the  eastern  part 
of  the  Roman  Empire  from  the  western.  Rome  addressed  itself 
more  and  more  to  conquering  spiritually  the  barbarian  hordes  who 
had  conquered  her  materially,  and  perpetuated  in  the  Papacy  the 
practical  and  legal  ability  which  had  created  and  regulated  the 
Empire.  In  the  East,  not  Roman  law  but  Greek  philosophy  was 
the  heritage  of  the  Church,  and  even  the  common  people  specu- 
lated on  those  questions  of  the  divine  nature  which  were  settled 
in  the  first  great  (Ecumenical  Councils.  While  the  Latin  Church 
became  more  united,  the  Greek  became  more  divided.  At  the 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  65 

Third  Council  (Ephesus,  431)  Nestorius,  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
was  condemned  for  having  assigned  two  natures  to  Christ  in  such 
separation  that  Mary  could  not  be  called  the  "  Mother  of  God." 
*The  large  secession  of  the  Nestorians  ensued.  At  the  Fourth 
Council  (Chalcedon,  451)  the  doctrine  of  two  natures  in  Christ, 
•united  without  change  or  confusion,  gave  rise  to  the  Monopliysite 
or  one-nature  schism,  which  includes  to-day  the  Jacobites  of  Sy- 
ria, the  Copts  of  Egypt,  and  the  Abyssinians.  At  the  Sixth  Coun- 
cil (Constantinople,  680-681)  the  doctrine  of  two  wills,  divine  and 
human,  in  Christ,  was  proclaimed,  and  the  Maronites  seceded,  but 
in  1182  returned  to  Roman  rule,  retaining  some  peculiarities  in 
their  ritual. 

More  important  was  the  separation  from  the  Latin  Church. 
In  589,  at  a  Council  in  Toledo,  Spain,  not  oecumenical  and  there- 
fore not  authoritative,  there  was  added  to  the  clause  in  the  Nicene 
Creed,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  proceedeth  from  the 
Father,"  the  words  "and  the  Son."  Against  this  the  Eastern 
churches  protested  as  a  heresy,  contrary  to  the  true  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  To  theological  dissension  abundant  political  jealousy 
was  added,  and  at  last,  in  1054,  Leo  IX.  excommunicated  the 
Eastern  Church.  The  treatment  of  Eastern  Christians  by  the 
crusaders  from  the  West,  culminating  in  the  sack  of  Constanti- 
nople by  them,  1204,  intensified  the  quarrel,  which,  in  spite  of 
many  attempts,  has  never  been  closed. 

Meantime  the  Mohammedans  swept  over  the  East,  but  were 
not  converted  to  Christianity,  as  the  northern  barbarians  were  by 
the  Roman  Church.  In  the  period  including  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  in  637  and  that  of  Constantinople*  in  1453  all  the  old 
domain  of  the  Eastern  Church  fell  into  their  hands.  Its  organi- 
zation was  kept  up,  but  its  life  largely  departed.  But  new 
domains  had  been  added  by  missionary  zeal,  especially  in  Russia, 
which,  accepting  Christianity  in  992,  now  contains  two  thirds  of 
all  Eastern  Christians. 

Doctrine,  —  The  Eastern  Church,  not  being  a  formal  unit,  has 
no  authoritative  creed.  It  holds,  however,  to  the  creeds  laid 
down  by  the  first  seven  (Ecumenical  Councils,  especially  the  one 
commonly  known  to  us  as  the  Nicene.  In  1643  and  1672  creeds 

5 


68  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

were  made  by  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem  which  are  now  virtually 
agreed  upon.  Their  substance  is  given  by  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  article  "  Greek  Church,"  as  follows,  the  small  capitals 
marking  differences  from  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  italics  those 
from  the  Protestants  :  — 

"  Christianity  is  a  divine  revelation*  communicated  to  mankind 
through  Christ;  its  saving  truths  are  to  be  learned  from  the 
Bible  and  tradition,  the  former  having  been  written,  and  the  latter 
maintained  uncorrupted,  through  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
the  interpretation  of  the  Bible  belongs  to  the  Church,  which  is  taught 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  every  believer  may  read  the  Scriptures. 

"  According  to  the  Christian  revelation,  God  is  a  Trinity ;  that 
is,  the  Divine  essence  exists  in  Three  Persons,  perfectly  equal  in 
nature  and  dignity,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost; 
THE  HOLY  GHOST  PROCEEDS  FROM  THE  FATHER  ONLY.  Be- 
sides the  Triune  God  there  is  no  other  object  of  divine  worship, 
but  homage  may  be  paid  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  reverence  to  the 
saint*  and  to  their  pictures  and  relics. 

"  Man  is  born  with  a  corrupt  bias,  which  was  not  his  at  crea- 
tion ;  the  first  man,  when  created,  possessed  IMMORTALITY,  PER- 
FECT WISDOM,  AND  A  WILL  REGULATED  BY  REASON.  Through 

the  first  sin  Adam  and  his  posterity  lost  IMMORTALITY,  AND  HIS 
WILL  RECEIVED  A  BIAS  TOWARD  EVIL.  In  this  natural  state 
man,  who  even  before  he  actually  sins  is  a  sinner  before  God  by 
original  or  inherited  sin,  commits  manifold  actual  transgressions ; 
lut  he  is  not  absolutely  without  power  of  will  toward  good,  and  is 
not  always  doing  evil. 

"Christ  ...  by  his  vicarious  death  has  made  satisfaction  to 
God  for  the  world's  sins,  and  this  satisfaction  was  PERFECTLY 

COMMENSURATE    WITH     THE     SINS     OF     THE    WORLD.    .    .    .    This 

divine  help  is  offered  to  all  men  without  distinction,  and  may  be 
rejected.  In  order  to  attain  to  salvation,  man  is  justified,  and 
when  so  justified  CAN  DO  NO  MORE  THAN  THE  COMMANDS  OF 
GOD.  He  may  fall  from  a  state  of  grace  through  mortal  sin. 

"  Regeneration  is  offered  by  the  word  of  God  and  in  the  sacra- 
ments, which  under  visible  signs  communicate  God's  invisible  grace 
to  Christians  when  administered  cum  intentions.  There  are  seven 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  67 

mysteries,  or  sacraments.  Baptism  entirely  destroys  original  sin. 
In  the  Eucharist  the  true  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  substan- 
tially present;  and  the  elements  are  changed  into  the  substance  of 
Christ,  whose  body  and  blood  are  corporeally  partaken  of  by  commu- 
nicants. ALL  Christians  should  receive  the  bread  and  THE  WINE. 
The  Eucharist  is  also  an  expiatory  sacrifice.  The  new  birth  when 
lost  may  be  restored  through  repentance,  which  is  not  merely 
(1)  sincere  sorrow,  but  (2)  confession  of  each  individual  sin  to  the 
priest,  and  (3)  the  discharge  of  penances  imposed  by  the  priest  for  the 
removal  of  the  temporal  punishment  which  may  have  been  imposed 
by  God  and  the  Church.  Penance  accompanied  by  the  judicial 
absolution  of  the  priest  makes  a  true  sacrament. 

"  The  Church  of  Christ  is  the  fellowship  of  ALL  THOSE  WHO 

ACCEPT  AND  PROFESS  ALL  THE  ARTICLES  OF  FAITH  TRANS- 
MITTED BY  THE  APOSTLES  AND  APPROVED  BY  GENERAL 
SYNODS.  Without  this  visible  Church  there  is  no  salvation.  It  is 
under  the  abiding  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  therefore 
cannot  err  in  matters  of  faith.  Specially  appointed  persons  are 
necessary  in  the  service  of  the  Church,  and  they  form  a  threefold 
order,  distinct  jure  diclno  from  other  Christians,  of  Bishops,  Priests, 
and  Deacons.  THE  FOUR  PATRIARCHS,  OF  EQUAL  DIGNITY, 

HAVE    THE    HIGHEST    RANK    AMONG     THE     BISHOPS;     AND     THE 

BISHOPS,  united  in  a  General  Council,  represent  the  Church,  and 
infallibly  decide,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all 
matters  of  faith  and  ecclesiastical  life.  .  .  .  Bishops  must  be  un- 
marri'-d,  and  PRIESTS  AND  DEACONS  MUST  NOT  CONTRACT  A 

SECOND    MARRIAGE." 

They  must,  however,  be  married  at  ordination. 

A  priest  of  the  Eastern  Church  is  called  a  "pope,"  which 
means  "  papa,"  and  corresponds  to  the  Catholic  "  father."  This 
church  has  prayers  for  the  dead  and  a  somewhat  indefinite  belief 
in  a  purgatory,  but  rejects  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the 
Eucharist ;  gives  the  Eucharist  to  babes  as  well  as  adults ;  makes 
the  priest  and  people  stand  during  prayer ;  baptizes  by  immer- 
sion ;  anoints  the  sick  with  oil,  but  has  no  ^  extreme  unction/'  - 
that  is,  at  death ;  abhors  the  use  of  images  in  churches,  but  per- 
mits fervent  homage  to  pictures ;  allows  divorce,  and  follows  the 


68  A    STUDY   OP   THE    SECTS, 

Mosaic  Law  in  abstaining  from  things  strangled  and  "  unclean  " 
meats. 

The  liturgies  of  the  Eastern  Church  are  naturally  very  ancient, 
the  most  common  being  that  of  Saint  James.  Unlike  the  Catho- 
lic ritual,  the  Eastern  is  commonly  in  the  vernacular,  with  the 
advantage  that  where  Greek  is  spoken  the  New  Testament  is 
read  and  understood  in  the  language  in  which  it  was  written.  The 
services  of  the  Russian  Church,  especially,  are  very  elaborate, 
and  the  vestments  of  its  priests  gorgeous. 

Government.  —  The  Eastern  Church  has  now  four  Patriarchs, 

—  of  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and  Alexandria.     They 
are  supreme  in  their  districts,  having  metropolitan,  or  chief,  and 
suffragan,  or  deputy,  bishops  under  them.      But  their  power  has 
been  much  curtailed  by  the  formation  of  various  national  churches, 

—  as  those  of  Russia,  under  a  Holy  Governing  Synod  appointed 
by  the  Czar,  which  has  authority  over  sixty-three  divisions  called 
Eparchies,  each  under  a  bishop;    of   Roumania,  under  a  metro- 
politan and  bishops ;  of  Greece,  under  the  king  as  head,  with  a 
synod  like  the  Russian;   of  Servia;  of  Montenegro,  etc.     There 
is  no  single  authority  over  the  whole  Church,  except  a  possible 
(Ecumenical  Council,  which  has  never  been  summoned  since  the 
separation  from  Rome. 

Statistics.  —  There  were  in  1890  about  92,000,000  Eastern 
Christians,  of  whom  76,000,000  are  regular  adherents  of  the 
Greek  Church,  mainly  in  Russia;  11,000,000  are  in  Russian 
sects ;  while  there  are  2,300,000  in  the  Armenian  (Monophysite)  - 
Church,  1,500,000  Jacobites,  and  400,000  Nestorians,  in  virtual 
agreement  with  the  rest,  but  separate  ecclesiastically  as  they  are 
politically. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  the  name  of  the  Eastern  Church  ?  Why  is  it  called  also  the 
Greek  Church  ?  What  advantage  has  it  over  the  Roman  Church  in  locality  ? 
in  language  of  the  people  ?  Has  it  been  progressive  V  What  different  work 
have  the  two  churches  taken  up  ?  Who  are  the  Nestorians  ?  the  Maronites  ? 
When  and  why  did  the  two  churches  separate  ?  What  different  relations 
had  they  to  the  barbarians  ?  Which  have  been  the  more  civilized,  the 
Greek  Christians  or  the  Mohammedans  ? 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  69 

What  are  the  foundations  of  the  belief  of  the  Eastern  Church  ?  What 
does  "(Ecumenical"  mean?  What  do  you  know  of  the  Nicene  Creed? 
What  is  the  Eastern  doctrine  of  the  Bible  ?  How  does  this  differ  from  the 
Protestant  ?  What  is  its  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  ?  of  total  depravity  ?  of 
the  atonement  ?  of  regeneration  ?  of  baptism  ?  of  the  Eucharist  ?  of  the 
Church  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  the  Roman  Pope  and  an  Eastern 
pope  V  What  other  beliefs  of  the  Eastern  Church  can  you  mention  ?  Com 
pare  the  doctrines  in  general  with  the  Roman  and  Protestant.  What  can  you 
say  of  the  liturgies  ?  What  is  the  government  ?  Who  are  the  patriarchs  ? 
Does  the  Eastern  Church  seem  attractive  to  you  ?  Why  ?  More  or  less  so 
than  the  Roman  ?  Which  stands  nearer  to  Unitarians  ?  Which  has  the 
better  future  before  it  ? 

REFERENCES. 

An  admirably  clear  and  concise  article  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
<k  Greek  Church."  Dean  Stanley's  picturesque  Lectures  on  the  History  of 
the  Eastern  Church  is  especially  full  on  the  Russian  Church,  and  has  a  good 
map.  Gibbon,  chaps,  xlvii.  lv.,  as  well  as  all  chapters  relating  to  the  East- 
ern Empire.  Fisher,  see  Index,  "  Church,  Eastern,"  and  "  Greek  Church." 
Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  43-82,  gives  an  account  of  the  various  creeds,  and  vol.  ii, 
pp.  275-445,  the  creeds  themselves.  Prof.  A.  V-  G.  Allen,  in  The  Continuity 
of  Christian  Thought,  gives  a  fascinating  account  of  the  Greek  theology 
and  its  influence  upon  modern  Christian  thought.  J.  M.  Neale,  The  Holy 
Eastern  Church,  5  vols. 


CHAPTER   V, 
THE    PROTESTANTS. 

THAT  no  man  is  justified  by  the  law  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  is  evident : 
for,  The  just  shall  live  by  faith.  —  GAL.  iii.  11. 

Origin  of  the  Name  —  At  the  second  Diet,  or  congress,  of 
the  German  princes,  called  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  at  Speier 
(Spires),  in  1529,  a  former  edict  of  toleration  to  the  Lutherans 
was  rescinded;  and  the  edict  of  Worms,  by  which  Luther  was 
declared  an  outlaw  and  his  writings  were  condemned,  was  pro- 


70  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

nounced  still  in  force.  Against  this  act  the  Lutheran  princes  at 
the  Diet  made  a  formal  protest :  u  In  matters  which  relate  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  to  the  salvation  of  our  souls,  we  must  all  stand 
before  God  and  give  account  of  ourselves  to  him."  Hence  the 
name  "Protestant,"  or  "protester."  It  was  afterward  widened, 
and  is  so  used  to-day,  to  cover  all  Christians  who  protest  against 
the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

History.  —  The  Reformation  had  been  long  growing,  and 
sprang  from  several  roots.  First,  there  was  a  political  restlessness 
under  the  yoke  of  what  was  felt  more  and  more  keenly,  as  the  na- 
tions began  to  form  and  to  become  self-conscious,  to  be  a  foreign 
tyranny.  The  Church  held  one  third  of  the  land  of  Europe, 
immense  endowments  of  cathedrals,  monasteries,  etc. ;  and  re- 
ceived enormous  incomes  from  various  tithes,  fees,  etc.  These 
were  burdens  and  drains  upon  the  national  strength;  and  the 
kings,  nobles,  and  people  became  on  this  account  hostile  to  Rome. 
This  explains  the  protection  of  the  Reformers  by  many  princes. 
Secondly,  there  was  a  growing  intellectual  pressure  against  the 
narrowness  of  the  Church.  The  Crusades,  which  were  foreign 
tours  of  vast  multitudes  whose  minds  were  broadened  and  aroused, 
the  revival  of  learning  and  study  of  the  ancient  classics,  the 
invention  of  printing,  the  discovery  of  America  and  of  the  way 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  general  awakening  of  the 
human  mind  —  a  stretching,  as  it  were,  in  the  broader  spaces  and 
opportunities  of  study  and,  commerce  —  made  old  ideas  and  ways 
no  longer  possible.  Thirdly,  the  moral  sense  revolted  against  the 
corruption  of  the  priesthood,  which  is  now  acknowledged  by  both 
sides  to  have  been  very  great,  and  which  extended  often  to  the 
Popes  themselves.  Fourthly,  the  religious  instinct  rebelled  against 
the  choking  of  the  way  between  the  soul  and  God  by  the  "  dead 
works,"  the  ritual,  and  discipline  of  the  Church.  A  long  series 
of  protests  which  had  not  availed,  because  "  the  fulness  of  time" 
had  not  come,  gave  their  momentum  to  the  movement  under 
Luther. 

Few  however,  wished  or  expected  to  break  away  from  the 
Church.  Its  right  to  rule  was  universally  conceded.  Reform,  not 
revolution,  was  the  aim  ;  and  had  the  Church  been  as  shrewd 


A   STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  71 

before  the  Reformation  as  it  became  after,  it  might  for  a  long  time 
have  kept  its  integrity.  But  reform  within  having  been  defeated, 
the  Church  swept  on  to  rupture  and  loss.  When  the  movement 
was  over,  it  was  found  that  the  division  was  essentially  one 
of  race, — between  Teutonic  and  Latin,  between  Northern  and 
Southern  Europe ;  and  so  it  still  remains. 

The  detailed  history  of  this  crisis  must  be  studied  elsewhere. 
But  we  must  follow  Protestantism  into  its  own  lamentable,  though 
perhaps  inevitable,  divisions.  The  first  was  between  Luther  and 
Zwingli  on  the  subject  of  the  Eucharist,  which  broadened  into  the 
more  disastrous  one  between  Lutheran  and  Calvinist,  or,  as  it  was 
called,  between  "Evangelical"  and  "Reformed."  The  Lutheran 
party  became  stationary  and  practically  national,  and  so  remains. 
It  was  Calvinism  which  led  Protestantism  to  its  widest  and  bravest 
conquests  in  Switzerland,  France,  Holland,  England,  and  New 
England.  The  Huguenots,  the  Puritans,  the  Covenanters,  the 
defenders  of  Holland  against  Philip,  were  all  Calvinists.  So 
were  their  descendants,  the  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists, 
Baptists,  and  some  minor  sects.  The  Church  of  England,  though 
influenced  by  Calvinism,  claims  now  not  to  be  Protestant,  or  to 
have  been  "reformed  "  in  the  same  sense  as  "  the  sects,"  but  to 
be  the  branch  in  England  of  the  one  Catholic,  or  universal, 
Church,  cleansed  of  the  errors  which  the  other  branches,  the 
Roman  and  Greek  Churches,  still  hold.  The  sway  of  Calvinism 
Was  first  broken  by  the  Friends,  with  their  doctrine  of  "the  inner 
light,"  but  later  and  more  seriously  by  the  Methodists,  with  their 
denial, of  predestination.  The  swiftly  moving  "  Liberal "  or  ration- 
alistic tendency  has  taken  shape  in  the  Unitarians,  and  less 
clearly  in  the  Universalists.  As  against  these  "  Liberal  Protes- 
tants," or  "  Liberal  Christians,"  the  other  sects  have  taken  the 
name  of  "  Evangelical,"  from  the  Greek  word  for  Gospel  (Latin 
evangelium),  implying  that  they  alone  hold  "  Gospel  truth."  The 
"Evangelical  Alliance,"  formed  in  1846,  excludes  Unitarians, 
Universalists,  Friends,  and  the  New  Church. 

A  truer  classification  of  Protestants  would  be  according  to  the 
source  of  their  beliefs  :  namely,  first,  the  Church  party,  which 
looks  to  the  decisions  of  the  visible,  organized  Church  for  its 


72  A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS. 

authority,  including  High  Church  Episcopalians,  who  thus  prop- 
erly belong  with  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches ;  secondly,  the 
Scriptural  party,  which  bases  its  belief  directly  upon  the  teachings 
of  Scripture,  including  the  sects  commonly  called  Evangelical  ; 
and  the  Rational  party,  which  looks  to  the  individual  reason,  en- 
lightened from  all  sides,  as  sole  source  of  belief,  represented  by 
the  more  advanced  Unitarians  and  many  Universalists.  A  large 
part  of  both  these  bodies  is,  however,  professedly  Scriptural. 
Those  of  the  Friends  who  have  remained  true  to  their  primi- 
tive doctrine  of  the  "  inner  light  "  are  virtually  rationalistic;  so 
is  the  New  Church,  though  nominally  Scriptural.  The  Scriptu- 
ral party  shades  off  by  imperceptible  degrees  into  rationalism, 
and  indeed  is  colored  throughout  by  it.  The  coming  division 
of  Christianity  is  undoubtedly  to  be  into  the  party  of  the  Church 
and  that  of  the  Reason,  in  which  division  we  see  the  old  one  of 
ritual  and  spiritual  religion  virtually  emerging  again. 

Doctrine.  —  Protestantism,  as  has  been  said,  is  a  revival  of  the 
Christianity  of  Paul  as  against  the  Christianity  of  Peter,  —  of 
spiritual  religion  as  against  ritualism.  As  Paul  swept  aside  the 
Jewish  rites  as  unnecessary,  and  made  Christianity  begin  with  a 
spiritual  act,  faith,  so  Protestantism  at  length  swept  aside  all  the 
complicated  ritual  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  taught  the  same 
immediate  relationship  between  the  soul  and  its  God. 

More  particularly,  the  position  of  Protestantism  is  as  follows  * 

1.  Man  is  justified  —  that  is,  accepted  as  righteous  by  God  — 
on  condition  of  faith  alone  in  Christ,  which  faith  is  a  personal 
trust  in  him  and  living  union  with  him.     Without  this  faith  no 
deeds  are  acceptable.      Good  works  are  the  result  of,   not  the 
preparation  for,  faith.       The    Romanist    maintains   that   man    is 
justified  by  faith  and  works,  faith  being  assent  and   submission 
to  God  as  revealed  through  the  Church,  and  good  works  —  that 
is,  the  deeds  commanded  by  the  Church  —  being  conditions   of 
justification,  not  merely  its  results. 

2.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  given  -directly  in  response  to  faith.     The 
Romanist  maintains  that   it  comes  through  the  sacraments,  —  as 
baptism   and  the  Eucharist,  —  administered   by  duly   authorized 
officials  of  the  Church. 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  73 

3.  Hence  the  Protestant  holds  to  both  an  invisible  Church,  made 
up  of  all  believers,  Christ  being  the  head,  and  a  visible  Church, 
made  up  of  the  various  denominations  who  hold  the  true  faith,  — 
the  former  being  the  essential  thing.     The  Catholic   admits  no 
such  distinction,  holding  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  the  one  and 
only  Church  of    Christ,  outside  of  which  there  is  no  ordinary 
possibility  of  salvation. 

4.  Hence  the  great  difference  between  the  two  as  to  the  source 
of  authority.     The  Protestant  maintains  that  the  Bible  alone,  as 
read  by  the  believer  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  given  to  him 
in  consequence  of  his  faith,  is  the  source  of  belief.     The  Roman-  * 
ist  claims  that  while  the   Bible   is   inspired   and   infallible,  the 
Church,  which  superintended  its  formation  and   preservation,  is 
alone  qualified  to  interpret   it,   and  that  the   decisions    of   the 
Councils  and  Popes  are  of  equal  authority  with  it.     Hence  the 
Roman  Church   discourages   the   irresponsible   reading  of   it   by 

-  the  laity.  This  Church  has  also  accepted  the  Apocrypha  as 
part  of  the  Bible,  and  the  Latin  Vulgate,  an  ancient  translation, 
as  of  equal  authority  with  the  original.  English-speaking 
Catholics  use  the  Douay  Version  instead  of  the  so-called 
Version^  of  King  James. 

••  5.    From  the  distinction  between  the  invisible  and  the  visible 
/    Church  comes  an  important  distinction  between  the  two  concep- 
/    tions  of  the  ministry.     The  Protestant  considers  all  believers  to  be 
/     priests  in  the  sense  of  being  able  to  approach  God  directly  and 
to  give  significance  and   value  to  their  own  spiritual  acts.     For 
example,  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments   depends,  not  upon  who 
administers  them,  but  upon  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  received. 
The  minister,  though  "called  "  to  his  office  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is 
I     yet  essentially  one  of  the  members  of  the  church,  differing  from 
the  others  only  in  personal  fitness  and  education.     The  Roman 
ecclesiastic,   priest   or  bishop,  however,  is   invested  with  super- 
natural powers,  as  in  a  special  sense  the  representative  of  God. 
Through  him  alone  do  the  sacraments  have  efficacy.     This  power 
comes  by  the  "apostolical   succession,"  —  that  is,  by  the  trans- 
mission of  authority  from  Christ  through  the  Apostles  and  their 
successors,  the  Roman  bishops,  in  an  unbroken  line.     This  neces- 


74  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

sity  the  Protestant,  except  the  Anglican,  denies,  holding  that  the 
clergy  are  immediately  commissioned  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

G.  The  Protestant  reduces  the  seven  sacraments  to  two, — 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  with  the  exception  of  the 
Lutheran  and  the  Anglican,  denies  to  these  any  necessary  convey- 
ance of  divine  grace  to  the  partaker.  The  Romanist  maintains 
that  the  sacraments  are  supernatural  channels  for  the  communica- 
tion of  ^spiritual  life  to  the  recipient,  independently  of  his  or  the 
priest's  character, — baptism  removing  the  stain  of  original  sin, 
and  the  Eucharist  repeating  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross  for 
the  partaker's  sake.  The  Protestant  assigns  all  the  benefit  of 
these  rites  to  the  faith  of  the  partaker  in  them.  He  denies  tran- 
substantiation,  or  the  change  of  the  elements  into  Christ's  body 
and  blood ;  refuses,  therefore,  to  adore  them ;  and  grants  the  cup 
as  well  as  the  bread  to  the  laity.  Many  Protestants  also  reject 
infant  baptism.  As  to  the  other  sacraments,  confirmation  is  often 
replaced  by  admission  to  the  church  on  confession  of  faith ;  pen- 
ance is  entirely  swept  away,  together  with  auricular  confession  and 
priestly  absolution ;  the  doctrine  of  indulgences,  which  started  the 
Reformation,  is  wholly  set  aside ;  ordination  is  often  made  an  act 
of  the  congregation  in  the  exercise  of  their  own  priestly  func- 
tion^, and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  is  not  required  ;  matrimony  is 
divested  of  many  restrictions  laid,  upon  it  by  Romanists,  —  as 
refusal  to  unite  with  those  outside  the  Church  unless  by  dispen- 
sation, and  then  only  with  those  properly  baptized,  —  divorce 
being  more  liberally  allowed ;  and  extreme  unction  is  abandoned. 

7.  Some  minor  differences  may  be  considered  together.  The 
Protestants  do  not  believe  in  purgatory,  holding  to  heaven  and 
hell  only.  They  refuse  any  worship  to  the  Virgin  Mary  or  the 
saints  or  to  images  and  relics,  which  the  Romanist  gives,  though 
in  different  senses  of  the  word  "  worship." 

The  Romanist  and  the  Evangelical  Protestant  agree,  however, 
on  many  points,  —  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Bible ; 
the  Trinity ;  the  deity  of  Christ ;  the  fall  of  man  and  his  conse- 
quent helplessness  and  need  of  redemption  from  without,  the 
redemption  coming  through  the  sacrifice  of  Christ;  heaven  and 
hell. 


A    STUDY   OF    THE    SECTS.  75 

Statistics.  —  Of  the  150,000,000  Protestants  in  the  world, 
47,000,000  are  said  to  be  Lutherans,  25,000,000  Methodists, 
24,000,000  Episcopalians,  20,000,000  Presbyterians  and  Reformed, 
and  13,000,000  Baptists,  though  where  any  of  these  faiths  are 
"  established,"  it  is  the  whole  population  which  is  often  included 
in  these  figures.  In  the  United  States  there  are  said  to  be  over 
50V000,000  Protestants,  including  most  of  the  140  "  religious 
bodies"  reported  in  the  census  of  1890.  The  official  reports* of 
the  various  sects  show  the  number  of  communicants  to  be  about 
14,000,000,  of  whom  4,980,000  are  Methodists,  4,292,000  Bap- 
tists, 1,229,000  Presbyterians,  1,086,000  Lutherans,  620,000  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  (1889),  491,000  Congregationalists,  and  480,000 
Episcopalians.  The  usual  estimate  of  adherents  is  three  and  one 
half  times  the  number  of  communicants.  Of  18,000,000  scholars 
in  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  world,  one  half  are  in  this  country. 
There  are  143,761  churches  and  95,000  ministers. 

Unitarians  consider,  not  only  that  they  are  Protestants,  but  that 
they  alone  are  true  to  the  fundamental  Protestant  principle  of  the 
direct  communication  of  the  soul  with  God.  They  charge  the 
Evangelicals  with  having  displaced  the  barrier  of  the  Church  and 
its  rites  to  replace  it,  not  only  with  a  literal  Bible  upon  which 
they  cannot  agree,  and  which  they  have  made  an  unwilling  obsta- 
cle to  the  progress  of  truth,  but  with  creeds  defining  the  meaning 
of  the  Bible,  which  they  have  made  often  of  equal  and  even  supe- 
rior authority  to  the  Scriptures.  Unitarians  consider  the  Bible 
as  a  record  of  a  revelation  in  its  earlier  stages,  but  not  as  the 
finished  revelation  itself ;  and  reject  creeds  as  unjustifiable  limits 
to  the  freedom,  and  so  to  the  reality  and  sincerity,  of  thought. 
They  hold  that  God  speaks  still  to  the  minds  and  souls  of  men, 
revealing  fresh  truth,  as  Jesus  foretold  (John  xvi.  12,  13).  The 
divergence  of  Unitarians  on  other  points  of  doctrine  will  appear 
as  those  points  come  up  for  special  consideration. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  does  the  word  u Protestant "  mean?  When  and  how  did  it  arise  ? 
Who  are  included  under  it  now?  What  were  the  causes  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ?  What  was  the  aim  of  the  Reformers  ?  Do  you  think  that  the  Roman 
Church  could  have  been  kept  whole  forever?  How  are  Protestants  and 
Catholics  now  divided?  Who  was  the  first  Protestant  leader?  What  was 


76  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

the  first  division  among  the  Protestants  ?  What  was  the  greatest  division  ? 
What  was  the, course  of  the  two  parties?  Which  has  done  the  world  the 
more  good?  What  is  the  position  of  the  Church  of  England  toward  the 
Reformation  V  What  was  the  first  break  in  Calvinism  V  What  was  the  point 
of  difference  V  What  was  the  more  serious  break  ?  On  what  doctrine  ? 
What  is  meant  by  Liberal  Protestantism  ?  Why  should  it  be  called  "Lib- 
eral "  V  What  is  the  meaning  of  Evangelical  V  Is  its  use  justified  ?  What 
sects  does  it  include  ?  What  other  classification  could  be  made  ?  Where 
would  you  place  the  Baptists  ?  Methodists  V  New  Church?  Episcopalians  ? 
Universalists  ?  Friends  V  Name  some  signs  of  rationalism  among  these. 
How  do  you  think  Christians  will  be  divided  in  future  ? 

What  ancient  tendency  is  represented  in  Protestantism  ?  Can  you  trace 
both  kinds  of  religion  in  single  sects  V  Among  the  Baptists  V  Episcopalians? 
Unitarians  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  Romanist  and  Protestant  as 
to  faith  and  works  ?  salvation  ?  the  Church  ?  the  source  of  authority? 
How  does  the  Protestant  Bible  differ  from  the  Romanist  ?  How  do  Roman- 
ist and  Protestant  differ  as  to  the  priesthood  ?  What  is  meant  by  the  "  apos- 
tolical succession  "  ?  What  is  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  ? 
How  do  the  two  parties  differ  as  to  the  Eucharist  ?  divorce  ?  indulgences  ? 
adoration  of  saints  ?  future  state  ?  On  what  points  do  the  two  agree  ? 

Is  the  Unitarian  a  Protestant?  Why  ?  In  what  fundamental  point  does 
he  differ  from  the  "Evangelicals"?  What  is  the  difference  between  the 
Bible  as  being  the  word  of  God  and  containing  the  word  of  God  ? 

REFERENCES. 

Perhaps  the  best  handbook  is  The  Era  of  the  Protestant  Reformation, 
by  F.  Seebohm.  Longer  and  more  reflective  is  The  History  of  the  Refor- 
mation, by  Prof.  George  P.  Fisher.  Still  longer  and  more  standard,  Ranke's 
History  of  the  Popes,  and  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation;  J.  H. 
Allen's  Christian  History  in  its  Three  Great  Periods,  vol.  iii  ,  and  Outline, 
chaps,  vii.-ix.;  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  "Reformation,"  "Luther,"  etc.; 
The  Reformation  (Handbooks  for  Bible-Classes),  T.  M.  Lindsay,  Edin- 
burgh, T.  £  T.  Clark;  Schaff's  Creeds  of  Christendom,  vol.  i.,  especially 
pp.  924-928,  where  the  agreements  with  and  differences  from  Romanism 
are  clearly  given  ;  Charles  Beard,  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1883,  The  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Sixteenth  Century  in  its  Relation  to  Modern  Thought  and 
Knowledge;  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  Rationalism  in  Europe:  Dorner's  History 
of  Protestant  Theology,  2  vols.  Bibliography  at  end  of  Fisher's  History 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  of  his  History  of  the  Reformation. 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  77 

SECTION   I. 

THE   EVANGELICAL   PROTESTANT   SECTS. 

1.  THE   LUTHERANS. 

WHILE  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  another,  I  am  of  Apollos;  are  ye 
not  carnal  ?  Who  then  is  Paul  and  who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom 
ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord  gave  to  every  man  ?  I  have  planted,  Apollos 
watered;  but  God  gave  the  increase.  —  1  COR.  iii.  4-6. 

Name.  —  The  name  Lutheran  was,  like  the  name  Christian, 
first  given  in  contempt  by  enemies.  In  time  its  application  was 
widened  by  Catholics  to  all  opponents  of  Rome.  Among  Prot- 
estants the  name.Jis  applied  to  those  whose  creed  is  the  Augsburg 
Confession.  In  Poland  and  Austria  their  official  name  is  "  The 
Church  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,"  but  they  are  generally 
known  as  "The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church." 

History.  —  The  history  of  the  Lutherans  after  the  death  of 
their  leader  is  very  painful.  Instead  of  standing  united  and 
firm  against  their  still  powerful  enemy,  the  Roman  Church,  they 
broke  into  the  most  bitter  controversies  among  themselves  and 
with  the  Calvinists,  under  cover  of  which  the  Romanists  regained 
much  of  the  ground  they  had  lost,  and  the  banner  of  aggressive 
Protestantism  was  taken  up  by  the  Calvinists.  Melanchthon,  the 
friend  of  Luther,  found  himself  diverging  from  him  on  the  doc- 
trines of  the  sacrament  and  of  predestination.  The  lamentable 
disputes  between  the  two  parties  should  be  read  in  Schaff  (vol  i. 
pp.  268-307).  They  were  terminated  in  1577  by  the  "  Form  of 
Concord,"  which  most  signed,  but  many  rejected  and  reject  still. 
The  excessive  emphasis  on  dogma  led  to  two  reactions,  —  one  of 
the  heart,  called  "Pietism,"  under  Spener  (1635-1705),  much 
like  Methodism;  and  one  of  the  liead,  called  "Rationalism," 
which  resulted  in  the  severe  criticism  of  the  Bible  that  has  marked 
much  of  later  German  scholarship,  reaching  its  climax  in  Strauss, 
Baur,  and  the  Dutch  Kuenen  and  Wellhausen.  In  Prussia,  in 
1817,  and  in  a  few  smaller  States,  a  forced  union  was  made  by 
the  secular  authorities  between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Lutherans 
under  the  name  of  "  The  United  Evangelical  Church."  The 


78  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

stricter  Lutherans  resisted  this,  and  made  the  sect  of  "  Old 
Lutherans,"  who  were  finally  given  legal  footing;  but  many  emi- 
grated to  America.  To-day  Lutheranism  is  the  established  religion 
in  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway,  and  the  prevailing  religion  in 
Saxony,  Hanover,  and  northern  Germany  generally,  in  Baden 
and  Wiirtemberg  in  the  south,  and  in  some  districts  of  Russia, — 
as  St.  Petersburg,  Livonia,  and  Finland.  The  German  element 
in  Hungary  and  Transylvania  is  Lutheran,  the  Magyars  being 
Calvinist. 

In  the  United  States,  the  first  Lutherans  came  from  Holland, 
in  1621,  and  settled  in  New  Amsterdam,  or  New  York  ;  but  the 
first  organized  church  and  minister  were  Swedish,  at  Christiana 
(now  Wilmington),  in  Delaware,  1638.  This  minister  translated 
Luther's  Smaller  Catechism  into  the  Indian  tongue,  and  was  the 
first  missionary  to  the  Indians  of  North  America.  The  first 
German  Lutheran  church  was  organized  in  New  York,  1044. 
There  was  not  much  growth  until  the  first  half  of  the  next  cen- 
tury, when  large  numbers  of  German  immigrants  came  over.  Aid 
was  asked  of  the  home  churches;  and  in  1742  came  Dr.  Henry 
Melchior  Muhlenberg,  who  was  the  virtual  founder  of  the  Lu- 
theran denomination  in  this  country.  The  first  synod  was  organ- 
ized in  Philadelphia,  1748.  The  Lutherans  were  intensely 
patriotic  during  the  Revolution,  and  induced  many  Hessians  to 
desert,  thousands  of  whom,  after  the  war,  settled  with  them 
permanently. 

But  divisions  rent  the  churches  here  as  at  home.  The  German 
language  was  at  first  used  exclusively  in  the  churches.  English 
was  introduced  into  one  church  in  1819,  and  it  remained  the  only 
one  for  years.  Much  disputation  ensued  on  this  point.  The 
"  General  Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  the 
United  States"  had  been  established  in  1820.  It  adopts  only 
the  Augsburg  Confession  as  its  doctrinal  basis,  and  allows  a 
liberal  construction  of  even  this. 

In  1847  the  "  Synod  of  Missouri,  Ohio,  and  other  States  "  was 
formed,  —  generally  called  "Missourians,"  —  very  active  and  strict 
in  doctrine  and  discipline,  powerful  chiefly  among  the  Germans 
of  the  West.  They  were  incorporated  in  1872  into  the  "  Synodi- 


A    STUDY    OF    THE   SECTS.  79 

cal  Conference  of  North  America."  It  requires  its  ministers  to 
subscribe  to  the  whole  Book  of  Concord,  "as  the  pure,  unadul- 
terated explanation  and  exposition  of  the  divine  word  and 
will."  During  the  late  war,  in  1863,  the  "  General  Synod  of  the 
Southern  States''  was  formed,  in  doctrinal  agreement  with  the 
"  General  Synod.''  In  1867  the  '*  General  Council"  was  formed, 
accepting  the  "unaltered  Augsburg  Confession  in  its  original 
sense,"  —  of  doctrine  intermediate  between  the  other  two  bod- 
ies. Besides  these  are  several  other  bodies  and  independent 
churches. 

Doctrine.  —  The  Evangelical  Lutheran  churches  agree  upon 
the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Nicene  Creed,  the  Athanasian  Creed, 
and  the  Augsburg  Confession.  The  stricter  churches  add  to  these 
the  "  Apology  of  the  Confession "  (prepared  by  Melanchthon  as 
an  answer  to  the  "  Confutation  "  of  the  Catholics,  promulgated  by 
the  Diet  of  Augsburg  in  1630  as  a  reply  to  the  "  Confession  "); 
the  "  Articles  of  Smalcald  "  (a  creed  prepared  by  Luther  to  ex- 
press his  belief  at  a  council  called  by  the  Pope  at  Mantua,  in  1537, 
and  signed  by  a  convention  of  Protestant  theologians  at  Smalcald, 
in  Thuringia)  ;  the  two  Catechisms,  Large  and  Small,  written  by 
Luther  to  replace  the  Catholic  catechisms  for  the  young ;  and  the 
"Form  of  Concord,"  prepared  by  six  divines  in  1577.  Together 
these  nine  creeds  form  the  "  Book  of  Concord.7' 

The  characteristic  doctrines  of  Lutheran,  as  distinguished  from 
Calvinist  churches  are  these  :  — 

1.  They  teach  consubstantiation,  or  the  real  presence  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood  in,  with,  and  under  the  elements,  literally  eaten 
by  unworthy  as  well  as  by  worthy  communicants.     This  doctrine 
must  be  distinguished  from  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation,  which   teaches   that  bread  and  wine  are  changed 
into,  do  not  merely  coexist  with,  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
Calvin   taught  a  spiritual  presence  of    Christ  at  the  Eucharist, 
enjoyed  by  believers  only. 

2.  Behind  this  doctrine  lies  that  of  the  ubiquity  of  Christ's 
glorified  body.     "  The  human  nature,  while  retaining  its  inherent 
properties,  may  and  does  receive  the  attributes  of  divine  glory, 
—  majesty,  power,   omniscience,  and  omnipresence."     Hence   it 


80  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

is  present,  as   God  is,  in  all  places  and  things,  the  Eucharistic 
elements  included,  at  the  same  time. 

3.  With  the  supernatural  Eucharist  goes  a  supernatural  baptism, 
by  which  the  child  is  regenerated,  and  without  which  there  is 
ordinarily  no  salvation.    In  and  with  the  water,  as  in  and  with  the 
Eucharistic  elements,  goes  a  divine  saving  power. 

4.  The  Lutherans  hold  that  atonement  was  made  for  and  salva- 
tion freely  offered  to  all  men,  and  that  no  one  is  lost  save  by  his 
own   refusal  to  repent   and   believe.     They  therefore    deny  the 
Calvinist  doctrine  of  election  and  an   atonement  limited  to  the 
elect.     As  one  is  free  to  take  divine  grace,  so  one  may  afterward 
fall  from   it.      The   doctrine   of   the   perseverance,  or  necessary 
continuance  in  grace,  of  the  believer  is  therefore  also  rejected. 

Lutherans  are  also  more  conservative  in  the  retention  of  many 
church  festivals  and  usages  of  the  Catholic  Church,  though  their 
tendency  is  now  toward  agreement  with  other  Protestants  in  such 
non-essential  matters/ 

In  other  'doctrines  the  Lutherans  are  mainly  at  one  with  the 
rest  of  Evangelical  Christendom. 

Government.  —  The  organization  of  the  Lutheran  churches 
varies  in  different  nations.  In  Germany,  which  was  divided  at 
the  Reformation  into  small  States,  each  obliged  to  follow  the 
religion  of  its  prince,  the  ruler  naturally  took  the  place  of  the 
bishop,  and  became  the  head  of  his  churches.  Under  him,  and 
largely  appointed  by  him,  was  the  consistory,  or  council,  —  the 
executive  body.  The  congregations  have  little  power.  The  rules 
of  the  churches  differ  greatly ;  in  1846  more  than  one  hundred 
and  eighty  different  constitutions  could  be  counted. 

In  Norway  and  Denmark  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  were 
replaced  by  Lutheran  bishops,  who  are,  however,  appointed  by 
the  king,  as  head  of  the  Church.  In  Sweden  the  Roman  bishops 
were  converted;  so  that  the  apostolic  succession  is  preserved, 
though  no  doctrinal  use  is  made  of  the  fact.  There  is  also  an 
archbishop  (of  Upsala). 

In  the  United  States  the  congregation  has  more  power.  It 
appoints  its  own  pastor,  who  is  then,  however,  responsible  to  the 
Synod  iti  doctrine  and  discipline.  The  District  Synod  is  made  up 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  81 

of    delegates,   lay   and   clerical,   from   the   churches,   and   sends 
delegates  to  the  General  Synod. 


Lutheranism  deserves  honor  as  having  been  the  "old  guard  " 
of  Protestantism,  —  the  first  form  in  which  the  movement  took 
shape.  But  it  proved  reactionary  within  and  an  impediment  to 
the  success  of  the  movement  without.  It  turned  its  energy 
against  heresies  in  its  own  ranks  rather  than  against  the  common 
enemy,  whose  disastrous  recovery  of  ground  must  be  largely 
attributed  to  Lutheran  narrowness  and  disputatiousness.  The 
sword  of  conquest  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Calvinists.  Even 
in  this  country  the  Lutherans  have  proved  reactionary,  joining 
hands  in  the  West  with  the  Romanists  against  the  public  schools, 
and  stoutly  maintaining,  not  only  their  original  doctrine,  but  the 
language  of  the  land  they  have  left  in  the  land  that  has  received 
and  sheltered  them. 

To  the  Unitarian  the  Lutheran  history  is  valuable  as  showing 
the  disastrous  effects  of  limiting  truth  by  the  words  rather  than 
by  the  spirit  of  a  single  man,  though  he  be  as  great  as  Luther, 
and  by  creeds  which  not  only  circumscribe  truth,  but  dictate  even 
what  shall  be  read  in  the  Bible.  Such  a  course  leads,  not  only  to 
divisions  arid  controversies,  but  to  reactions  as  violent  as  the 
action,  and  resulting  in  the  overthrow  of  the  creeds  so  vehemently 
unred.  That  the  "rationalism"  and  u  destructive  criticism" 
which  characterize  German  thought  to-day  should  have  sprung  up 
in  the  bosom  of  a  church  so  sternly  resolved  to  keep  thought  in 
bonds  is  very  suggestive  to  all  those  who  consider  creeds  conserva- 
tive ;  while  the  spirit  in  which  the  controversies  were  carried  on 
shows  afresh  how  far  dogmatic  clearness  may  be  from  the  spirit 
of  Christ. 

Statistics.  —  There  are  in  the  world  about  47,000,000  Luther- 
ans. In  the  United  States  there  were  in  1890,  it  was  estimated, 
about  4,000,000.  The  churches  report  1,086,000  communicants, 
7,948  congregations,  4,692  clergymen.  There  are  57  synods;  23 
theological  seminaries,  or  departments;  28  academies;  10  female 
seminaries;  48  benevolent  institutions;  and  over  100  periodicals 
in.  English,  German,  Norwegian,  Danish,  Icelandish,  and  Finnish. 


82  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 


QUESTIONS. 

What  was  the  origin  of  the  name  ?  What  are  the  official  names  now  ? 
What  can  you  say  of  the  German  Lutherans  in  their  early  history  ?  Did 
this  follow  naturally  from  Luther's  doctrine  of  private  judgment  ?  What 
were  the  points  of  controversy  ?  Do  they  seem  to  you  worth  while  ?  What 
were  the  consequences  to  Protestantism  ?  How  was  it  ended  ?  What  reac- 
tions followed  ?  Were  these  natural  ?  Why  ?  Where  are  Lutherans  most 
numerous  in  Europe  ?  Who  were  the  first  Lutherans  in  this  country  ?  On 
what  were  they  divided  ?  Who  was  their  great  organizer  V  Name  some 
of  their  divisions  to-day. 

What  are  their  standards  of  belief  V  What  is  their  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist?  of  Christ's  body?  of  baptism?  of  the  atonement?  Are  they 
conservative  or  progressive  generally  ?  How  are  they  organized  ?  What 
is  the  tendency  in  this  country  ?  Why  ?  How  many  are  there  in  the 
world  ?  How  many  here  ?  What  is  your  impression  concerning  them  in 
general  ?  What  honor  is  due  them  ?  What  may  be  charged  against  them  ? 
What  lessons  do  they  teach  the  Unitarian  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  best  account  of  both  history  and  doctrine  is  in  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp. 
220—349,  vol.  iii.  pp.  1-193;  Fisher's  Reformation,  chap,  v.,  and  other 
works  on  this  period;  McClintock  and  Strong;  and  the  Lives  of  Luther, 
especially  Kostlin's.  For  later  history,  see  J.  H.  Allen's  Christian  His- 
tory in  its  Three  Great  Periods,  vol.  iii.  chap.  ix. ;  Hagenbach's  History 
of  the  Church  in  the  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Centuries;  Hurst's  His- 
tory of  Rationalism ;  Krauth's  Conservative  Reformation,  and  Wolf's  The, 
Lutherans  in  America, 


2.  THE  REFORMED  CHURCH   IN  AMERICA. 

KNOWING  that  a  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  the 
faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  even  we  have  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  might 
be  justified  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law.  — 
GAL.  ii.  16. 

Name.  —  The  first  title  was  "  The  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church  in  North  America/'  —  ''Reformed,"  as  Calvinistic,  not 
Lutheran;  "Protestant,"  as  against  Rome;  "Dutch,"  as  distin- 
guished from  the  "  English,"  or  Episcopal  Church,  which  com- 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  83 

peted  with  it,  and  after  the  English  conquest  of  new  Netherlands, 
in  1664,  oppressed  it.  The  word  "Dutch"  was  added  in  1694; 
but  in  1867  the  present  name,  "  The  Reformed  Church  in  Amer- 
ica," was  taken. 

History.  —  The  Reformed  churches  in  the  United  States  are 
slips  from  the  Calvinistic  churches  of  Europe.  They  are  divided 
into  the  Dutch  and  the  German,  chiefly  for  national  reasons. 
The  Dutch  was  the  first  to  be  transplanted.  The  principle  of 
justification  by  faith,  on  which  the  Reformation  of  Luther  was 
based,  was  preached  in  Holland  half  a  century  before  his  day,  but 
made  little  impression.  When  the  Reformation  was  under  way 
it  was  from  Calvin,  not  Luther,  that  Dutch  Protestantism  took 
shape.  Its  struggles  against  the  Spanish  power  of  Charles  V. 
and  Philip  II.  are  famous  in  history.  The  church  took  shape  in 
a  synod  at  Antwerp  in  1563,  when  the  Belgic  Confession  was 
adopted.  Its  influence  in  Europe  was  very  great;  and  through 
the  English  Protestants  who  took  refuge  in  Holland  —  among 
them  our  "  Pilgrims  >y  —  it  affected  England  also.  It  was  in  this 
church  that  the  famous  Arminian  controversy  took  place,  ended 
at  the  Synod  of  Dort,  in  1619,  by  the  triumph  of  Calvinism  and 
the  banishment  of  the  Arminians. 

The  first  Reformed  church  in  New  Amsterdam  (later  New 
York)  was  established  by  the  Dutch  settlers  of  the  province  in 
1619.  There  were  but  five  churches  when  the  English,  in  1664, 
took  the  province.  Life  became  a  somewhat  hard  struggle  to 
them.  The  attempt  to  become  independent  of  the  church  in 
Holland,  in  1755,  resulted  in  a  fierce  struggle  and  division;  but 
in  1792  this  came  to  an  end,  and  the  present  organization  was 
formed. 

Its  growth  was  much  hindered  by  the  sole  use  of  the  Dutch 
language  in  service  and  sermon  till  1764,  and  by  its  dependence 
and  divisions.  Though  one  of  the  oldest  bodies  in  the  country, 
it  is  not  large,  though  it  is  wealthy  and  influential.  It  cares 
greatly  for  an  educated  ministry,  and  was  the  first  body  to  institute 
systematic  theological  instruction  in  this  country. 

Doctrine.  —  The  Reformed  Church  is  essentially  Calvinistic 
in  doctrine.  Its  standards  are  the  "Belgic  Confession,"  the 


84  A   STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

"  Heidelberg  Catechism,"  and  the  "  Canons  of  the  Synod  of 
Dort,"  which  are  coincident  with  the  Westminster  Confession. 
It  used  the  liturgy  adopted  in  1568  at  Wesel,  based  on  Calvin's, 
translated  into  English  in  1667,  when  singing  in  English  was  also 
introduced.  The  ministers  often  wear  the  Genevan  gown. 

Organization.  —  The  Reformed  Church  is  essentially  Presby- 
terian in  government,  though  the  bodies  have  different  names. 
The  "  Consistory  "  corresponds  to  the  "  Session"  ;  the  "Classes" 
to  the  "  Presbytery,"  the  "  Particular  Synod,"  and  the  "  General 
Synod." 

There  are  also  a  ' '  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,"  with  work  in 
China,  India,  and  Japan;  with  a  "Woman's  Board,"  a  "Board 
of  Domestic  Missions,"  a  "  Board  of  Education  "  to  aid  theological 
students,  a  4'  Board  of  Publication,"  etc. 

Statistics.  —  The  report  of  1 889  gives  36  classes,  546  churches, 
566  ministers,  88,812  communicants,  103,101  in  Sunday-schools 
and  catechumen  classes.  For  religious  and  benevolent  purposes 
$282,000  were  raised,  and  for  congregational  uses  $971,000.  The 
receipts  for  home  missions  were  $60,000,  for  foreign  $132,000. 
There  are  two  theological  schools,  —  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J., 
and  at  Holland,  Mich. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  meant  by  the  "  Reformed "  Church  ?  Why  was  it  called 
Dutch?  What  is  its  origin?  How  is  it  divided,  and  why?  'Which 
came  here  first  ?  What  was  its  history  in  Holland  ?  What  had  our  Pil- 
grims to  do  with  it  ?  What  was  its  attitude  toward  Arminianism  ?  Where 
was  the  first  church  here  built?  What  was  its  fate?  What  was  the  dis- 
sension between  it  and  the  home  church  ?  What  hindered  its  growth  ? 
What  is  its  character  now  ?  What  is  its  doctrine  ?  What  are  its  standards  ? 
How  is  it  governed  ? 

REFERENCES. 

For  the  Church  in  Holland,  see  S chaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  502-523,  the  "Con- 
fessions "  in  vol.  iii. ;  also  Motley's  Else  of  the  Dutch  Republic  and  United 
Netherlands ;  and  Prescott's  Charles  V.  For  the  Church  in  America,  see 
a  good  article  in  McClintock;  and  A  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
America,  by  Edward  T.  Corwin. 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  85 

3.  THE   EPISCOPALIANS. 

LET  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order.  —  1  COR.  xiv.  40. 

Name.  —  The  legal  name  in  England  is  "  The  Church  of 
England."  By  this  is  implied,  not  only  that  it  is  the  national 
church,  —  that  is,  the  nation  organized  for  religious  purposes,  — 
but  that  it  is  the  branch  in  England  of  the  Catholic  or  Univer- 
sal Church  of  which  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches  are  also 
branches,  though  they  have  added  false  doctrines  to  those  handed 
down  from  the  Apostles. 

The  name  in  this  country  is  "  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America."  The  word  "  episcopal "  comes 
from  the  Greek  episcopos,  or  overseer,  of  which  Greek  word  our 
word  "  bishop  "  is  a  contraction. 

History.  —  The  Church  of  England  claims  to  have  been 
founded  by  Oriental  Christians,  and  not  by  missionaries  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  of  which  it  kept  for  a  long  while  its  indepen- 
dence. The  first  historic  evidence  of  Christianity  in  Britain 
dates  back  to  about  300,  and  the  Church  soon  had  bishops  of  its 
own.  Saint  Patricius,  or  Patrick,  was  sent  as  missionary  to  Ire- 
land, where  the  Church  became  strong,  and  noted  for  its  learning. 
From  Ireland  went  missionaries  to  the  north  of  Scotland. 

The  invasions  of  the  Danes  during  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries 
practically  exterminated  the  British  Church,  the  remains  being 
driven  into  Scotland  and  Wales;  but  in  597  Christianity  was  re- 
established by  Austin,  the  missionary  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great, 
and  he  became  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  About  the 
same  time  representatives  of  the  old  British  Church  came  down 
from  Scotland;  and  disputes  arose  on  points  of  ritual  between 
them  and  the  Roman  priests,  which  were  settled  in  favor  of  the 
latter  at  the  Council  of  Whitby,  in  664.  The  Church  of  Rome 
therefore  claims  not  only  to  have  founded  the  Church  of  England 
as  a  branch  of  itself,  but  to  have  received  formal  recognition  at 
Whitby,  —  both  of  which  points  the  Church  of  England  denies, 
claiming  distinct  origin  from  and  equality  with  the  .Church  of 


86  A    STUDY   OF    THE   SECTS. 

Koine  as  also  a  branch  of  the  One  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church.  It  is  certain  that  no  part  of  Europe  was  more  indepen- 
dent of  Rome  than  England,  or  more  sturdy  in  its  resistance  to 
her  exactions.  The  reforming  spirit  was  active  ;  and  while 
Luther  was  beginning  the  German  Reformation,  a  gentler  band 
of  scholars,  led  by  Sir  Thomas  More,  John  Colet,  and  the  German 
Erasmus,  were  pleading  and  working  for  purer  morals,  a  broader 
spirit,  and  a  more  learned  clergy  in  the  Church.  With  Luther, 
however,  they  had  no  sympathy  or  co-operation  ;  and  Henry  VIII. 
wrote  an  abusive  book  against  him.  The  refusal  of  the  Pope  to 
annul  the  marriage  of  Henry  to  his  first  wife  precipitated  a  crisis  ; 
and  Henry  forced  the  Houses  of  Convocation  to  make  the  king, 
instead  of  tlie  Pope,  the  head  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
doctrines  of  the  Church,  including  transubstantiation,  remained 
otherwise  unchanged.  Under  Edward  VI.  (1547-53)  the  first 
Prayer  Book  and  Forty-Two  Articles  were  published.  Under 
Elizabeth  the  Prayer  Book  was  revised  into  virtually  its  present 
shape,  and  the  Forty-Two  Articles  abridged  to  the  present 
Thirty-Nine. 

The  act  of  Uniformity  attempted  to  stop  further  reform,  and 
establish  one  Church  again  throughout  the  kingdom.  Biit  then 
arose  the  "  Puritans,"  or  those  who  wished  worship  to  be  still  fur- 
ther purified  from  things  suggestive  of  Papistry,  and  to  retain 
nothing  that  was  not  expressly  commanded  or  sanctioned  by 
Scripture,  dividing  into  Presbyterians,  and  later  Independents, 
or  Congregationalists.  Baptists  and  "  Quakers "  also  became 
numerous. 

The  cessation  of  the  long  religious  disputes  in  1688  was  fol- 
lowed by  great  weariness  and  laxity  during  the  last  century, 
and  the  condition  of  the  Church  and  clergy  was  disgraceful. 
The  first  reaction  came  in  Methodism,  which  was  continued 
in  the  Church  by  the  Evangelical  or  "  Low  Church  "  movement. 
But  the  sternness  of  its  dogmatic  emphasis  led  to  the  liberal,  or 
"  Broad  Church,"  movement,  under  Thomas  Arnold,  Maurice, 
Whately,  Kingsley,  Stanley,  Jowett,  Temple,  and  others.  This, 
in  turn,  roused  the  "  Tractarian  "  or  "  High  Church  "  movement, 
under  Newman,  Keble,  Pusey,  and  their  friends,  who  invoked 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  87 

against  the  disrupting  influences  of  German  rationalism,  which 
threatened  to  undermine  faith  in  the  Church  standards  and  doc- 
trines, the  aid  of  ritual  to  preserve  due  reverence  for  the  un- 
revealed  mysteries  of  God. 

The  influence  of  the  Tractarian  movement  has  been  very  deep 
and  lasting,  and  by  its  emphasis  upon  the  divine  origin  and  office 
of  the  Church  has  stimulated  very  powerfully  the  zeal  of  its 
members  to  make  it  effective.  Within  thirty  years  as  many 
millions  of  pounds  have  been  spent  in  restoring  its  cathedrals  and 
churches.  Great  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  enrichment  of 
the  services,  to  work  among  the  poor  and  sick,  and  to  the  wider 
problems  of  modern  civilization.  What  the  Council  of  Trent 
was  to  the  Roman  Church,  —  emphasizing  its  peculiar  doctrines, 
but  setting  it  upon  a  more  earnest  and  effective  basis,  —  that  the 
High  Church  movement  has  been  to  the  English  Church,  which, 
though  ministering  to  a  decreasing  proportion  of  the  population, 
was  probably  never  more  in  earnest  than  to-day. 

In  the  United  States.  —  The  first  settlers  of  Virginia,  in 
1607,  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  churches 
were  founded  also  in  New  York  and  other  cities.  In  New  Eng- 
land the  Church  obtained  foothold  with  great  difficulty,  the  people 
being  Puritan,  and  remembering  their  contests  with  the  Church 
in  old  'England.  The  royal  governors,  however,  maintained  it ; 
and  the  Church,  in  return,  when  hostility  to  and  finally  war  with 
the  mother  country  arose,  was  loyal  to  the  crown,  its  ministers  and 
people  being  for  a  long  time  extremely  unpopular  for  having  taken 
the  "  Tory  "  side.  When  the  United  States  became  independent 
of  England,  the  Church  deemed  it  necessary  to  make  a  separate 
organization.  Never  having  had  bishops  of  its  own,  it  sought  the 
ordination  of  some  by  the  English  Church.  The  clergy  of  Con- 
necticut, having  elected  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  sent  him  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  consecration.  He,  however,  found 
himself  unable  to  ordain  him  without  requiring  the  oath  of 
allegiance  which  all  candidates  had  to  take.  Dr.  Seabury  there- 
fore was  consecrated  by  three  Scotch  bishops  at  Aberdeen,  in 
1784.  In  1787  Dr.  White,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Dr.  Provoost, 
of  New  York,  were  consecrated  at  Lambeth,  England,  by  the 


88  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York  and  two  bishops,  the  disa- 
bility having  been  removed.  Having  now  three  prelates  of  its 
own,  the  Church  here  was  henceforth  competent  to  its  own  man- 
agement. A  provisional  liturgy,  called  the  "  Proposed  Book,"  was 
issued  in  1786,  which  differed  in  many  respects  from  the  English 
Prayer  Book ;  but  a  more  conservative  spirit  prevailed,  and  in 
1789  the  present  book  was  adopted.  Subscription  to  the  Thirty- 
Nine  Articles  is  not  required  of  the  clergy  here  as  it  is  in  Eng- 
land. The  legal  name  was  fixed  as  "  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America."  This  name  is,  how- 
ever, very  distasteful  to  the  growing  High  Church  party,  who 
dislike  to  be  classed  among  Protestants.  They  propose  to  change 
it  to  "The  American  Catholic  Church,"  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
final  success. 

Doctrines.  —  The  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England  are  to 
be  found  in  its  "  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  "  Thirty-Nine  Arti- 
cles," and  "  Homilies."  These  were  adopted  by  the,  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  with  a  few  changes,  the 
chief  of  which  was  the  omission  of  the  Athanasian  Creed. 

These  formularies  are  the  result  of  two  streams  of  influence,  — 
one  from  the  long-established  use  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the 
other  from  the  German  Reformers.  The  former  predominates 
in  the  Prayer  Book,  the  latter  in  the  Articles  and  Catechism. 
The  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  and  the  Litany  are  substan- 
tially translations  from  the  Catholic  Breviary.  The  Communion 
Service  is  also  a  translation  from  the  Latin  service  of  the  Mass, 
but  with  a  larger  admixture  by  the  Reformers. 

All  the  forms  of  worship  of  this  Church  are  prescribed  and 
regulated  by  the  Prayer  Book.  Xo  extempore  prayer  is  allowed, 
and  the  lessons  from  Scripture  are  assigned  by  unvarying  rule. 
The  hymns  also  must  first  be  approved  by  the  proper  authorities. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  expound  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
England.  In  its  three  parties  it  contains  the  three  forms  under 
•which  Christianity  exists  in  the  world,  elsewhere  in  separate 
sects.  The  High  Church,  which  is  now  predominant,  represents 
the  Church  idea,  and  is  essentially  to  be  ranked  with  the  Roman 
and  Greek  Churches.  The  Low  Church,  which  has  shrunk  very 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  89 

much  in  numbers  and  influence,  represents  the  Scriptural  idea,  and 
is  essentially  Protestant.  The  Broad  Church  is  really  rational- 
istic, and  ranks  with  the  Liberal  sects.  The  difference  between 
these  parties  within  the  Church  is  really  greater  than  between 
them  and  the  sects  which  stand  for  their  fundamental  tendencies ; 
but  they  all  find  support  in  the  formularies  of  the  Church,  owing 
largely  to  that  difference  in  the  origin  of  the  latter  which  has 
been  explained. 

The  Church  of  England,  which  will  be  understood  to  include 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  our  own  country,  agrees  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  in  believing  in  "  One  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church," — that  is,  in  an  external  and  visible  institution,  having 
authority  over  all  the  world  given  it  by  Jesus  Christ  and  trans- 
mitted through  the  Apostles  and  the  bishops  ordained  by  them 
in  direct  and  demonstrable  succession  to  the  present  day.  Of 
this  Church  it  claims  to  be  a  legitimate  branch,  ministering  to  the 
English  nation,  or  the  Church  in  England.  It  differs  from  the 
Roman  Church  in  denying  supremacy  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
and  in  rejecting  such  doctrines  as  it  claims  were  not  of  apostolic 
origin,  but  have  been  added  in  later  days,  —  as  the  papal  infalli- 
bility, transubstantiation,  communion  in  one  kind,  purgatory, 
etc.  It  concedes  to  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches,  however, 
apostolic  authority  in  all  other  things  in  their  own  territory,  they 
being  with  itself  branches  of  the  Catholic  or  universal  Church. 
Though  not  pronouncing  officially  upon  the  validity  of  ministers 
not  episcopally  ordained,  this  Church  virtually  denies  it,  not  allow- 
ing them  to  minister  in  its  pulpits  or  at  its  altars,  and  generally 
forbidding  its  own  clergy  to  officiate  in  churches  of  other  faiths. 

The  apostolic  descent  of  the  Church  of  England  gives,  it  is 
claimed,  validity  to  its  sacraments,  of  which  it  maintains  two,  bap- 
tism and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  instead  of  the  Roman  seven. 
The  sacraments  are  "  outward  and  visible  signs  of  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace,"  given  in  or  with  them,  to  the  partakers.  By 
baptism  divine  strength  descends  into  the  soul,  contending  with 
original  sin,  disposing  to  righteousness,  and  remitting  previous 
nctual  sin.  As  stated  in  the  order  for  infant  baptism,  the  child 
is  "  regenerate."  In  the  communion  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 


90  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

are  present  in  the  bread  and  wine,  conveying  new  strength  to  the 
soul  of  the  partakers. 

But  it  is  upon  these  doctrines  of  the  Church  and  the  sacra- 
ments that  the  divergence  of  opinion  already  mentioned  chiefly 
occurs.  The  above  is  the  High  Church  view.  The  Low  Church, 
—  which  on  this  point  may  be  said  to  include  both  the  Evangeli- 
cal and  the  Broad  Church  parties,  —  while  admitting  the  apostolic 
authority  of  its  clergy,  ascribes  to  it  little  practical  value.  The 
Evangelical  churchman,  like  the  Protestant,  lays  emphasis  upon 
justification  by  faith,  — that  is,  direct  faith  in  Christ,  —  to  which 
an1  apostolic  clergy  and  sacraments  may  be  helps,  but  are  not 
indispensable.  His  tendency  is  to  disregard  the  Church  as  an 
external  institution,  going  immediately  to  the  Bible,  and  trusting 
in  the  immediate  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  reader's 
heart.  Baptism  and  the  Eucharist  are  to  him  rather  symbols 
than  divine  instrumentalities.  The  Evangelical  churchman  is 
virtually  a  Protestant,  separated  from  other  Protestants  mainly 
by  his  use  of  the  Prayer  Book.  The  Broad  Churchman,  like  all 
so-called  liberals,  lays  stress  upon  character,  values  the  Church 
and  its  sacraments  as  means  of  influencing  the  soul,  and  has  less 
to  say  of  faith  in  its  theological  sense.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
Hi^h  Churchmen  are  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  Romanists 
in  their  views  of  the  necessity  of  baptism  and  of  the  Real  Pres- 
ence in  the  Eucharist,  some  even  maintaining  transubstantiation. 
They  also  grant  higher  power  to  their  clergy,  —  in  receiving 
confession,  imposing  penance,  and  granting  absolution. 

Besides  these  most  characteristic  doctrines,  the  Church  of 
England  holds  to  the  Trinity,  as  defined  especially  in  the  Nicene 
Creed,  including  the  deity  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,  though  the  Broad  Churchmen  are  very 
lax  herein ;  the  taint  of  original  sin,  predisposing  to  evil ;  pre- 
destination and  election,  in  which  the  Evangelicals  are  decidedly 
Calvinistic,  though  High  Churchmen  and  Broad  Churchmen  are 
as  clearly  Arminian ;  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  though  with 
much  divergence  as  to  what  this  means;  and  eternal  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked,  though  Broad  Churchmen  like  Maurice, 
Kingsley,  and  Archdeacon  Farrar  have  openly  denied  this,  it 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  91 

having  been  omitted  from  the  Articles,  though  it  is  plainly 
implied  in  the  Litany. 

Organization.  —  The  highest  officers  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land are  the  archbishops,  or  metropolitans  (Canterbury  and 
York).  The  legislative  power  lies  in  the  two  Convocations,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  two  archbishops,  and  consisting  each  of  two 
houses,  the  upper  containing  the  bishops,  deans,  archdeacons,  and 
abbots  of  the  archdiocese,  the  lower  the  representatives  of  the 
clergy.  Their  decisions,  however,  must  be  ratified  by  Parlia- 
ment before  becoming  law,  and  they  cannot  even  be  assembled 
without  writ  of  the  crown. 

The  bishops  have  jurisdiction  over  the  churches  in  their  respec- 
tive territorial  dioceses.  They  alone  can  administer  confirmation, 
ordain  priests  and  deacons,  or  dedicate  new  churches.  The 
twenty-four  senior  sees  send  their  bishops  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
They  are  nominated  by  the  crown,  and  elected  by  the  chapter  of 
their  cathedral.  The  cathedral  is  the  chief  church  of  the  diocese, 
and  is  so  called  from  the  bishop's  seat  (cathedra),  which  it  contains. 
Hence,  also,  the  cathedral  church  or  city  is  called  his  "  see"  (sedes, 
siege).  This  church  is  administered  by  the  chapter,  which"  con- 
sists of  the  dean,  or  presiding  officer,  and  (usually)  four  canons, 
who  take  turns  in  conducting  the  services.  Each  diocese  has  also 
from  two  to  four  archdeacons,  who  are  in  many  ways  the  executive 
officers  and  aids  of  the  bishop.  Next  come  the  priests,  and  finally 
the  deacons,  in  which  office  every  priest  must  serve  at  least  a 
year  before  ordination  to  the  priesthood.  A  curate  is  an  as- 
sistant to  the  incumbent  of  a  parish,  and  may  be  either  a  priest 
or  a  deacon. 

The  Church  of  England  is  the  Established  Church  of  England 
and  Wales.  In  Scotland  the  Established  Church  is  Presbyterian, 
while  in  Ireland  there  has  been  none  since  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Anglican  Episcopal  Church  in  1869.  By  the  "Established 
Church  "  is  meant  the  official  or  national  Church.  The  sovereign 
must  be  a  member  of  it.  Its  prelates  are  peers  of  the  realm. 
Its  liturgy  is  used  upon  all  official  occasions  and  in  all  govern- 
ment institutions  where  any  devotional  exercises  are  held ;  and  it 
retains  the  churches,  churchyards,  and  other  ecclesiastical  prop- 


92  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

er.ty  held  by  the  Church  before  the  changes  made  by  Henry  VIII. 
and  his  successors.  This  property  constitutes  its  endowment. 
Formerly  it  levied  compulsory  rates  upon  all  taxable  property ; 
but  these  are  now  abolished  along  with  most  other  peculiar  privi- 
leges, —  as  the  power  to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony  or  the 
sole  right  of  its  members  to  be  elected  to  Parliament. 

In  the  United  States  the  Episcopal  Church  is  upon  a  level  with 
all  other  religious  bodies  before  the  law.  It  has  no  archbishops. 
The  bishops  are  elected  by  the  conventions  of  their  dioceses,  the 
election  being  ratified  by  the  General  Convention  or  its  repre- 
sentatives, in  which  both  lay  and  clerical  delegates  vote.  They 
are  consecrated  by  other  bishops,  at  least  three  being  necessary. 
There  is  but  one  cathedral,  that  at  Albany,  but  more  are  planned. 
The  legislative  body  is  the  General  Convention,  which  meets 
once  in  three  years.  It  consists  of  the  "  House  of  Bishops  "  and 
the  **  House  of  Deputies,"  to  the  latter  each  diocese  sending  four 
clergymen  and  four  laymen,  and  each  Missionary  District  one. 
There  is  also  an  informal  but  very  interesting  body  called  the 
"  Church  Congress,"  here  as  well  as  in  England,  for  discussion  of 
important  questions.  Beside  the  bishops  there  are  priests  and 
deacons,  with  archdeacons  and  other  officers,  as  need  requires. 

Statistics.  —  There  are  in  the  Church  of  England  2  arch- 
bishops, 28  bishops,  30  deans,  74  archdeacons,  and  about  13,000 
parochial  clergy.  The  number  of  people  nominally  connected 
with  the  Church  is  about  13,000,000,  though  there  are  accommo- 
dations for  less  than  half  that  number.  The  number  of  active 
members  is  probably  less  than  that  of  the  "  dissenters."  It  con- 
tains, however,  most  of  the  nobility,  as  well  as  the  royal  family. 
It  is  very  wealthy,  its  annual  income  being  estimated  at  over 
£7,000,000,  or  $35,000,000.  The  salary  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  is  $75,000  a  year,  the  lowest  salary  of  any  bishop 
being  $12,000,  though  a  large  part  of  these  sums  is  usually  spent 
in  charities  and  upon  the  needs  of  the  diocese.  The  "  livings," 
or  endowments,  of  the  parochial  clergy  are  also  often  large, 
though  a  thousand  of  them  receive  less  than  $250. 

In  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  there 
were,  in  1890,  50  bishops,  besides  17  missionary  bishops,  nearly 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  93 

4,000  clergy,  3,500  parishes,  and  over  480,000  communicants. 
Thefr  total  contributions  for  church  and  missionary  purposes, 
$11,277,000.  There  were  also  in  the  Sunday-schools  over  360,000 
scholars  and  29,000  teachers. 


The  Episcopalians  have  been  the  best  representatives  in  this 
country  of  good  taste  and  good  manners  in  worship.  The  dig- 
nity and  verbal  simplicity  of  its  liturgy  and  the  a3sthetic  excel- 
lence of  its  music,  architecture,  and  appointments  have  done 
much  to  correct  on  the  one  hand  the  coldness  and  stiffness  of 
Puritan  services,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  "  revival "  extrava- 
gances of  a  new  country  Its  chief  emphasis  is  not  upon  the 
sermon,  as  in  most  Protestant  churches,  but  upon  the  service.  It 
has  paid  great  attention  to  the  organization  of  parishes  for  chari- 
table work,  and  has  had  great  success  in  the  "  free-seat "  system, 
as  opposed  to  the  sale  or  rental  of  pews.  In  many  philanthropic 
directions,  as  temperance  and  social  purity,  it  has  done  good  ser- 
vice, while  some  of  its  bishops  have  been  very  outspoken  on  the 
great  social  problems  of  the  day. 

All  this  has  increased  with  the  growing  claim  to  be  the  Church 
in  America,  —  the  sole  legitimate  representative  of  Christ,  —  at 
least,  as  compared  with  the  other  Protestant  sects.  This  also 
gives  it  a  strong  hold  upon  the  reverence  and  loyalty  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  a  growing  attraction  for  the  conservative  classes,  — 
those  of  wealth  and  social  rank.  But  another  and  less  agree- 
able consequence  is  an  increasing  exclusiveness  and  withdrawal 
-of  fellowship  from  other  bodies.  As  the  Church,  it  declines  to 
"consider  itself  on  a  level  with  "  the  sects, "  works  less  and  less 
with  them,  and  holds  its  clergy  at  a  distance  from  theirs.  It 
stands  thus  in  contrast  with  the  rapidly  growing  sense  of  fellow- 
ship among  the  different  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  and 
the  tendency  to  a  working,  if  not  to  a  corporate,  unity.  To  Lib- 
erals this  assumption  and  the  exclusiveness  which  follows  from  it 
cannot  but  be  repulsive,  and  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  its  wor- 
ship cannot  hide  the  fact  that  the  Episcopal  Church  stands  in  the 
way  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  manifestations  of  the  Christian 
spirit.  Xor  can  they  fail  to  see  that  though  the  Apostles'  Creed 
is  made  the  standard  of  belief,  yet  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
virtually  implies  when  it  does  not  plainly  assert  many  doctrines 
which  Liberals  have  put  aside  as  untrue.  The  baptismal  service, 
especially,  in  declaring  the  child  "  regenerate  by  baptism,"  strikes 
at  the  root  .of  Protestantism;  while  the  Litany  contains  petitions 


94  A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS. 

which  no  Unitarian  can  offer.  While,  therefore,  he  may  admire 
the  beauty  and  dignity  of  the  liturgy,  sincerity  forbids  him  to 
use  it. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  implied  in  the  title,  "The  Church  of  England1'  ?  What  does 
"  Episcopal"  mean?  Are  any  other  bodies  Episcopal?  Why?  What 
does  the  English  Church  claim  as  to  its  origin  ?  What  does  the  Roman 
Church  say  to  this?  Whnt  can  be  said  on  either  side?  What  was  the 
Church's  attitude  toward  the  German  Reformation  ?  Who  led  the  English 
movement  ?  What  else  do  you  know  of  any  of  them  ?  What  led  to  the 
break  with  Rome?  When  was  the  first  Prayer  Book  compiled?  When 
the  present  one  ?  Who  were  the  Puritans  ?  Would  it  not  have  been  better 
to  concede  something  to  keep  the  "dissenters"  in  the  Church?  What 
bodies  can  you  think  of  who  have  come  out  of  this  Church  ?  What  condi- 
tion succeeded  that  of  dispute?  What  reactions  came  from  it?  Who  led 
them  ?  What  can  you  recall  about  any  of  these  men  ?  How  do  your  sym- 
pathies turn?  What  has  been  the  influence  of  the  High  Church  move- 
ment ?  Who  brought  the  Church  to  this  country  ?  How  did  it  stand  in 
New  England  ?  What  was  its  attitude  during  the  Revolution  ?  How  was 
the  Church  organized  in  this  country  ?  What  is  its  name  here  ?  What 
change  is  proposed  ?  What  does  this  imply  ?  What  do  you  think  of  it  ? 

What  are  the  standards  of  doctrine?  What  influences  formed  them? 
What  restrictions  are  placed  upon  worship  ?  What  difficulty  is  there  in 
expounding  the  doctrines  ?  What  are  the  three  parties  ?  What  tendencies 
do  they  embody  ?  How  are  they  really  affiliated  ?  What  is  the  High 
Church  view  of  the  Church  ?  How  does  it  look  upon  the  Roman  and  Greek 
Churches  ?  How  do  they  look  upon  it?  What  view  of  the  clergy  does  this 
involve  ?  what  of  the  sacraments  ?  What  is  the  view  of  baptism  ?  of  the 
communion  ?  How  do  the  Low  Church  views  differ  from  these  ?  How  do 
those  of  the  Broad  Church  ?  How  do  the  parties  differ  on  the  inspiration  of 
the  Bible  ?  on  predestination  ?  on  eternal  punishment  ? 

What  grades  of  officers  are  there  in  the  Church  of  England  ?  What  is 
a  cathedral  ?  a  deacon  ?  a  curate  ?  What  is  meant  by  the  "  Established 
Church"  ?  How  is  it  governed  in  England  ?  What  officers  has  the  Church 
here  ?  What  is  the  governing  body  ?  What  other  body  is  there  ? 

What  do  the  Episcopalians  best  represent  ?  In  what  ways  ?  What  have 
they  done  for  parish  work  ?  for  free  churches  ?  for  philanthropic  causes  ? 
What  has  given  importance  to  these  ?  What  other  effects  has  it  had  ? 
What  criticism  can  you  make  on  its  attitude  to  other  bodies  ?.  What  do  you 
think  of  its  doctrines  ?  How  far  can  you  use  its  liturgy  ?  What  do  you 
think  of  liturgical  service  in  general  ?  What  are  its  advantages  ?  its 
disadvantages  ? 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  95 


REFERENCES. 

For  the  sources  of  the  history  and  the  standard  books,  see  the  biblio- 
graphy at  the  close  of  Fisher;  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  592-665;  Fisher,  Index, 
"England"  and  "England,  Church  of;"  C.  Arthur  Lane,  Illustrated 
Notes  on  Church  History,  2  small  volumes ;  Green's  Short  History  of  the 
English  People,  chaps,  vii.  and  viii.;  Herford's  Stoi^y  of  Religion  in  Eng- 
land. For  the  Roman  Catholic  side,  see  Lingard's  History  of  England; 
and  for  the  Puritan,  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans.  For  later  history,  see 
W.  N.  Molesworth's  History  of  the  Church  of  England  from  1660;  Lecky's 
History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century ;  Tulloch's  Movements  of 
Religious  Thought  in  Britain  during  the  Nineteenth  Century ;  Newman's 
Apologia^-  and  his  Letters;  Thomas  Mozley's  Reminiscences  of  the  Oriel 
Movement ;  and  G.  G.  Perry's  History  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  3  vols. ;  also  lives  of  Keble,  Pusey,  Whately,  Wil- 
berforce,  etc.  The  history  in  this  country  has  lately  been  told  anew  by 
S.  D.  McConnell  in  his  History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church. 
See  also  Bishop  W.  S.  Perry's  History  of  the  American  Episcopal 


1  Cardinal  Newman  was  the  leader  of  the  Oxford  or  Tractarian  move- 
ment in  the  Church  of  England,  which,  starting  with  the  assumption  that 
there  is  a  visible  and  authoritative  Church  on  the  earth,  strove  to  believe 
that  the  Anglican  is  that  Church.  Newman  became  a  Roman  Catholic  in 
1845,  and  his  mature  views  upon  this  point  are  of  great  weight. 

"I  cannot  tell  how  soon  there  came  on  me,  but  very  soon,  an  extreme 
astonishment  that  I  had  ever  imagined  it  [the  Church  of  England]  a  portion 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  ...  I  saw  it  as  it  was,  —  ...  a  mere  national 
institution...  .  .  And  when  I  looked  back  upon  the  poor  Anglican  Church, 
for  which  I  labored  so  hard,  and  thought  of  our  various  attempts  to  dress  it 

doctrinally  and  aesthetically,  it  seemed  to  me  to  bo  the  veriest  of  nonen- 
tities. .  .  .  And  as  to  its  possession  of  an  episcopal  succession  from  the  time 
of  the  Apostles,  ...  I  must  have  Saint  Philip's  gift,  who  saw  the  sacer- 
dotal character  on  the  face  of  a  gayly-attired  youngster,  before  I  can  by  my 
own  wit  acquiesce  in  it;  for  antiquarian  arguments  are  quite  unequal  to  the 
urgency  of  visible  facts"  (Apologia). 

"  Why  should  I  wish  to  see  it  [the  Anglican  Church]  overthrown  ?  While 
Catholics  are  so  weak  ...  it  is  doing  our  work ;  and  though  it  does  harm  in 
a  measure,  ...  the  balance  is  in  our  favor"  (Apologia). 

*'  As  to  your  question  about  the  growth  of  Church  principles  in  the  Angli- 
can Church,  I  rejoice  in  the  fact ;  but  as  to  the  why,  ...  it  may  be  to  pre- 
pare for  a  large  addition  of  members  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church" 
(Letter  to  Canon  Maccoll). 


96  A    STUDY   OP   THE    SECTS. 

Church,  2  vols. ;   Palfrey's  History  of  New  England;  and  Foote's  Annals 
of  King's  Chapel. 

For  doctrine,  consult  the  Boole  of  Common  Prayer,  which  contains  the 
Creeds  and  Thirty-Nine  Articles ;  Schaff,  vol.  iii.  p.  486,  has  the  Articles 
and  the  American  revision  of  them;  J.  H.  Blunt's  Annotated  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  ;  J.  R.  Lumby,  The  Creeds ;  Bishop  Pearson's  Exposition  of  the 
Creed;  A.  W.  Little  (High  Church),  Reasons  for  being  a  Churchman; 
K.  F.  Littledale's  Plain  Reasons  against  joining  the  Church  of  Rome ; 
E.  Hatch's  Organization  of  the  Early  Christian  Churches;  and  Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical  Polity. 


4.  THE   REFORMED   EPISCOPALIANS. 

0  FOOLISH  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you,  that  ye  should  not  obey 
the  truth  ?  .  .  .  Received  ye  the  Spirit  by  the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  the 
hearing  of  faith?  — GAL.  iii.  1,  2. 

THE  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  a 
secession  from  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

In  October,  1873,  the  General  Conference  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  met  in  New  York.  In  the  general  communion  service 
which  was  held,  Assistant  Bishop  Cummins,  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
Dean  of  Canterbury,  England,  participated.  This  drew  out  a 
public  protest  from  the  bishop  of  New  York,  in  which  a  large 
part  of  the  Episcopal  Church  warmly  sympathized.  This  seemed 
to  Bishop  Cummins  the  climax  of  the  tendency  to  High  Church 
ritualism  and  exclusiveness ;  and  he  resigned  his  position,  and 
left  the  Church.  He  was  formally  deposed,  but  proceeded  to 
form  a  new  organization,  at  a  council  held  in  New  York,  Dec.  2, 
IS 73.  Since  then  it  has  grown  steadily,  though  not  rapidly. 

Doctrine.  —  The  standard  of  belief  is  the  "  Thirty-Five  Arti- 
cles," a  revision  of  the  English  Thirty-Nine,  in  which  the  Apos- 
tles' (except  "  He  descended  into  hell ")  and  Nicene  Creeds  are 
accepted.  The  Liturgy  was  also  revised,  in  general  agreement 
with  the  first  revision  of  the  American  Church  in  1 786,  omitting 
from  the  baptismal  service  the  thanksgiving  for  the  "  regenera- 
tion "  of  the  child,  and  changing  throughout  the  words  "  priest " 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  97 

and  "  altar  "  to  "  minister  "  and  "  Lord's  table."     The  general 
position  of  the  new  body  may  best  be  seen  in  the 

DECLARATION    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

"  I.  The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  holding  '  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints/  declares  its  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
sole  Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice  ;  in  the  Greed  *  commonly  called 
the  Apostles'  Creed ; '  in  the  divine  institution  of  the  Sacraments 
of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  in  the  doctrines  of  grace 
substantially  as  they  are  set  forth  in  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  of 
Religion. 

"II.  This  Church  recognizes  and  adheres  to  Episcopacy,  not 
as  of  divine  right,  but  as  a  very  ancient  and  desirable  form  of 
church  polity. 

"III.  This  Church,  retaining  a  Liturgy  which  shall  not  be 
imperative  or  repressive  of  freedom,"  etc. 

••  IV.  This  Church  condemns  and  rejects  the  following  erro- 
neous and  strange  doctrines  as  contrary  to  God's  Word: 

"  First,  That  the  Church  of  Christ  exists  only  in  one  order  or 
form  of  ecclesiastical  polity. 

"Second,  That  Christian  ministers  are  l  priests '  in  another 
sense  than  that  in  which  all  believers  are  '  a  royal  priesthood.' 

"  Third,  That  the  Lord's  Table  is  an  altar,  on  which  the  obla- 
tion of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  is  offered  anew  to  the 
Father. 

u  Fourth,  That  the  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Supper 
is  a  presence  in  the  elements  of  Bread  and  Wine. 

"Fifth,  That  Regeneration  is  inseparably  connected  with 
Baptism." 

The  Reformed  Episcopalians  are  thus  simply  belated  Puritans. 
They  are  those  of  the  Protestant  or  Pauline  wing  who  can  no 
longer  endure  the  Churclily  or  Petrine  tendencies  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  In  their  emphasis  upon  the  Bible  as  the  rule  of 
faith  and'  upon  justification  by  faith  as  their  leading  doctrine,  in 
their  assertion  that  the  Liturgy  is  not  obligatory  but  expedient 

7 


98  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

and  voluntary,  and  that  the  Episcopal  form  of  government  is  not 
essential,  that  the  minister  and  people  are  equal,  and  in  their  pro- 
test against  belief  in  the  supernatural  effect  of  the  communion  and 
of  baptism,  they  are  thorough-going  Evangelical  Protestants. 

Organization.  —  The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  retains  the 
threefold  order  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  though  holding 
them  as  not  essential,  and  recognizing  the  validity  of  the  ministry 
of  other  churches.  It  may  claim  for  its  bishops  an  apostolic  suc- 
cession through  Bishop  Cummins,  though  the  Mother  Church 
demands  ordination  by  three  bishops ;  but  it  does  not  regard 
this  as  necessary,  and  even  considers  the  doctrine  "  unscriptural 
and  productive  of  great  mischief." 

Statistics.  —  There  were  in  1890  106  churches  and  missions, 
with  9,500  communicants  and  12,000  members  of  the  Sunday- 
schools.  The  church  property  amounts  to  $1,250,000,  and  the 
annual  contributions  for  all  purposes  to  $175,000.  There  ar« 
two  periodicals  and  a  theological  school. 


So  far  as  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  is  a  protest  against 
the  theory  of  an  authoritative  and  exclusive  Church  and  of  super- 
natural sacraments,  it  has  our  sympathy.  It  has  long  been  a 
mystery  to  us  how  so  many  men  of  trusted  integrity  and  frank- 
ness could  remain  in  the  English  and  Episcopal  Churches  with 
their  known  disbelief  in  so  many  points  of  its  doctrine  and  usage. 
So  far,  however,  as  it  not  only  embraces  but  emphasizes  the 
Evangelical  doctrines,  it  holds  us  off.  Apparently  it  lays  greater 
stress  on  these  doctrines  to  make  up  for  its  falling  away  from  the 
"  Church  "  position.  As  it  differs  from  conservative  Congrega- 
tionalists  or  Presbyterians  only  in  government  and  liturgy,  we 
may  look  for  an  ultimate  union  'between  it  and  some  such  body, 
especially  as  there  seems  a  strong  tendency  among  them  toward 
liturgical  service  and  episcopal  government. 

QUESTIONS. 

Analyze  the  name  and  explain  its  parts.  What  was  its  origin  ?  In  your 
judgment  was  it  right  for  officers  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  receive  com- 
munion from  officers  of  "the  sects"?  On  what  theory  of  that  church 
would  it  be  right  ?  on  what  theory  wrong?  Do  you  think  Bishop  Cummins 
was  right  in  leaving  his  church  ?  Was  it  right  in  deposing  him  ?  What 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  99 

are  the  standards  of  doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  ?  What 
change  was  made  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  ?  what  in  the  baptismal  service  ? 
What  did  the  words  omitted  imply  ?  What  reason  have  you  for  thinking 
them  wrong  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  a  priest  and  a  minister?  an 
altar  and  a  communion-table  V  What  is  this  church's  view  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ?  How  does  this  differ  from  the  High  Church  view  ?  What  is  its  doc- 
trine of  the  Church  V  of  Episcopacy  ?  How  do  these  vary  from  the  High 
Church  doctrine  ?  What  does  it  condemn  in  the  Eucharist  V  Why  V  What 
is  the  ecclesiastical  position  of  the  Reformed  Episcopalians  V  Who  were  the 
Puritans  ?  What  sects  came  from  them  V  What  is  their  organization  ? 
How  does  it  differ  in  theory  from  that  of  Episcopalians  V  Wherein  can 
we  sympathize  with  the  Reformed  Episcopalians  ?  Wherein  must  we  differ  ? 
What  is  the  general  impression  they  make  on  you  ?  What  is  likely  to  be 
their  future  ? 

REFERENCES. 

Schaff,  vol.  L  pp.  665-668;  the  Articles  are  in  vol.  iii.  pp.  814-827. 
What  do  Reformed  Episcopalians  believe?  by  Bishop  Cheney.  See  also 
their  journals  of  the  Councils,  and  published  sermons  and  tracts;  Why 
I  became  a  Reformed  Episcopalian,  b}r  Bishop  Nicholson.  The  Memoirs 
and  Letters  of  George  David  Cummins  gives  an  inside  view  of  the  origin  of 
the  church. 


5.   THE    PRESBYTERIANS. 
SPEAK  thou  the  things  which  become  sound  doctrine.  —  TITUS  ii.  1. 

Name. —  The  name  Presbyterian  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
word  Presbuteros,  which  means  elder :  and  is  applied  in  the  New 
Testament  (as  in  Acts  xiv.  23)  to  those  who  presided  over  the 
churches.  The  word  episcopos,  or  overseer,  is  also  used  (as  in 
Acts  xx.  28).  The  Episcopalian  maintains  that  the  latter  desig- 
nates a  higher  officer,  whom  he  calls  a  bishop.  The  Presbyterian 
maintains  that  it  is  but  another  name  for  the  same  officer  (Titus  i. 
5,  7),  and  therefore  declines  to  recognize  a  third  order  of  clergy 
above  elders  and  deacons.  A  Presbyterian  therefore  is  one  who 
believes,  first,  that  the  highest  officer  in  the  church  is  the  presby- 
ter or  elder ;  and  secondly,  that  the  government  of  the  church 
should  rest,  not  in  the  bishop,  as  in  Episcopacy,  nor  in  the  sepa- 


100  A    STUDY    OP    THE    SECTS. 

rate  congregation,  as  in  Congregational  churches,  but  in  repre- 
sentative bodies  of  presbyters. 

History.  —  Presbyterianism  as  a  form  of  church  government 
existed  somewhat  indefinitely  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  Continen- 
tal Reformation,  but  it  took  clear  shape  in  the  Institutes  of  John 
Calvin.  His  purpose  was  to  oppose  to  the  closely  organized 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  rested  on  tradition,  an  equally 
strong  organization  based  on  Scripture.  It  proved  of  immense 
service.  It  became  the  polity  of  the  Huguenots,  and  largely  of 
the  Dutch,  Poles,  and  the  provinces  of  the  Rhine,  rivalling  and 
often  combating  Lutheranism.  It  was  the  form  of  government 
under  which  the  best  stand  was  made  by  Protestantism  against 
Romanism,  — as  in  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  Scotland. 

As  a  sect,  its  most  remarkable  history  and  influence  was  in 
Scotland,  where  its  champion  was  John  Knox.  It  became  to  that 
country  what  Episcopalianism  was  in  England,  —  the  rallying 
point  of  the  nation  against  the  ecclesiastical  and  political  tyranny 
of  Rome.  In  1560  it  became  the  Church  of  the  kingdom;  equally 
hostile  to  Catholicism,  which  it  made  punishable  by  death,  and  to 
Protestant  dissenters.  In  1578,  in  its  Second  Book  of  Discipline, 
it  established  the  graded  series  of  church  courts  now  generally 
held.  The  organization  of  these  proved  of  great  service  in  con- 
centrating and  training  the  middle  class  in  their  contest  with  the 
nobility.  A  long  struggle  with  the  crown  led  to  the  overthrow  of 
Presbyterianism  and  the  virtual  establishment  of  Episcopacy  in 
Scotland  by  Charles  I.  The  resistance  rose  to  a  climax  in  1638, 
when  the  "Covenant,"  or  solemn -agreement  of  the  Scotch  people 
to  oppose  Prelacy  to  the  death,  was  signed  amid  great  and  univer- 
versal  excitement,  first  in  the  churchyard  of  the  Grey  Friars  at 
Edinburgh,  then  everywhere  else  in  the  kingdom.  Presbyterian- 
ism was  restored,  and  Scotland  faced  Charles  with  a  powerful 
army.  In  1643,  the  aid  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  having  been 
sought  by  the  English  Parliamentary  party  in  revolt  against 
Charles,  the  "  Solemn  League  and  Covenant "  was  signed  between 
the  two,  who  bound  themselves  to  strive  to  "bring  the  churches  of 
God  in  the  three  kingdoms  to  the  nearest  conjunction  and  uni- 
formity of  religion."  The  execution  of  this  design  was  entrusted 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  101 

in  England  to  the  "  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,"  which 
met  in  the  Abbey,  July  1,  1643.  This  body  the  Presbyterians  con- 
trolled ;  and  the  creed  drawn  up  by  it,  the  famous  "  Westminster 
Confession/*'  became  the  standard  of  Presbyterianism  in  general, 
and  so  remains  to-day.  In  June,  1647,  Presbyterianism  was  made 
the  national  religion  of  England,  as  it  was  of  Scotland,  though  the 
sudden  rise  of  the  Independents,  or  Congreg^tijonalists,  to^pp'tfer 
under  Cromwell  overthrew  its  supreniadyl  v^t  *&e,  Restoration, 
under  Charles  II.,  Presbyterianism  was  suppressed,  ,botb,  >r>  Scot*, 
land  and  in  England,  Episcopacy  becoming  tlie;h?li5flai,  kuAifefi?' 
The  struggle  of  the  "  Covenanters  "  against  the  persecution  that 
followed  is  one  of  the  noblest  chapters  in  history.  Tn  England 
the  Presbyterians  form  to-day  one  of  the  smaller  "  dissenting " 
bodies.  After  the  Revolution  of  1688  Presbyterianism  was  quietly 
restored  in  Scotland,  where  it  remains  to-day  as  the  Established 
Church.  But  the  old  spirit  of  jealousy  of  the  civil  power  survived 
and  led  to  many  divisions.  In  1733  Ebenezer  Erskine  led  a  seces- 
sion on  behalf  of  the  right  of  the  congregations  to  reject  an  un- 
acceptable minister  sent  by  the  Presbytery,  and  formed  the 
"Associate  Synod."  This  divided  in  1747  into  "  Burgher  "  and 
"  Anti-burgher  "  synods  on  the  question  of  an  oath  required  by 
certain  cities.  From  the  latter  split  off  the  "  Constitutional  Asso- 
ciate Presbytery,"  and  from  the  former  the  "Original  Burgher 
Synod."  Meantime  the  "Presbytery  of  Relief"  had  in  1752 
divided  from  the  main  body  on  the  same  general  principle,  but 
united  in  1847  with  the  Burghers  and  Anti-burghers  into  the 
"  United  Presbyterian  Church."  But  in  1843  a  most  enthusiastic 
rebellion  against  the  main  church  was  led  by  Drs.  Chalmers, 
Guthrie,  and  Candlish,  by  which  nearly  one  third  of  the  ministers 
gave  up  their  manses  and  livings,  and  formed  the  "  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  "  on  the  right  of  the  congregation  to  choose  its  own 
minister  without  control  of  the  State  or  patron.  It  speedily  pro- 
vided for  its  own  support  by  raising  large  sustentation  and  build- 
ing funds,  and  is  a  prosperous  body.  But  in  1874  the  Established 
Church  gave  up  patronage  and  control  of  pastorates,  and  has 
grown  rapidly.  A  Book  of  Common  Order,  or  liturgy,  has  been 
compiled,  and  organs  and  hymns  admitted.  There  is  much  liber- 


102  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

ality  of  doctrine,  shown  especially  by  the  "  Scotch  Sermons " 
published  in  1880. 

In  the  United  States.  —  The  first  Presbyterian  churches  were 
founded  by  the  Huguenots,  but  of  these  only  one,  in  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  remains.  Large  immigrations  from  England,  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, Holland,  and  Germany  followed.  The  first  Presbytery,  how- 
ever,'was  not  organised  'til'  1706,  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  first 
Synod  till  172;).  A  division  rose  early  between  the  "  Old  Side  " 
Had  tK  \  Xc\v  Sid(:,"  nominally  on  the  question  of  revivals,  but 
really  upon  larger  questions  of  progressive  doctrine;  and  this  divi- 
sion, like  that  upon  State  interference  in  Scotland,  has  run  through 
Presbyterian  history  in  this  country.  During  the  Revolution  the 
Presbyterians  were,  as  ever,  strongly  on  the  side  of  freedom.  In 
the  early  part  of  this  century,  they  grew  rapidly,  but  the  old  con- 
troversies assumed  a  more  definite  shape  in  the  dispute  as  to 
whether  the  atonement  was  for  all  men  or  only  for  the  elect ;  and 
in  1837  the  denomination  split  into  Old  and  New  School,  and  was 
not  united  again  till  1869.  A  still  older  secession  was  that  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  who,  having  been  cut  off  for  intro- 
ducing into  their  churches  during  a  revival  a  number  of  minis- 
ters not  well  educated  nor  willing  to  subscribe  to  the  extreme 
doctrines  of  the  Confession,  formed  a  body  which  still  continues 
separate,  and  has  become  very  large.  They  revised  the  West- 
minster Confession,  holding  milder  views  on  predestination,  and 
denying  unconditional  election  and  infant  damnation.  The  Scotch 
divisions  have  also  been  perpetuated  in  this  country,  though  they 
have  no  application  here.  In  1858  the  southern  churches  of  the 
New  School  seceded  on  the  question  of  slavery,  forming  the 
"  United  Synod  ;"  and  in  1861  the  southern  section  of  the  Old 
School  followed,  joining  the  "United  Synod"  in  1865,  and  forming 
"  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States." 

Doctrines.  —  The  Presbyterians  hold,  on  the  whole,  the  doc- 
trines as  well  as  the  church  government  which  were  formulated 
by  John  Calvin,  and  by  him  made  the  standing-ground  against 
Romanism. 

These  doctrines  were  restated  in  the  Westminster  Confession, 
which  is  the  standard  of  all  the  main  bodies  of  Presbyterians, 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  103 

and  in  the  "  Larger "  and  "  Shorter  Westminster  Catechisms." 
The  American  churches,  however,  omit  those  passages  which  re- 
late to  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  limiting  the  duty  of  the 
latter  to  protection  of  all  denominations  alike. 

The  first  point  to  be  noticed  in  Presbyterianism  is  its  frank  and 
full  declaration  of  the  supremacy  of  Scripture  as  authority  for  all 
belief :  "  All  things  in  Scripture  are  not  alike  plain  in  themselves, 
nor  alike  clear  unto  all ;  yet  those  things  which  are  necessary  to 
be  known,  believed,  and  observed  for  salvation,  are  so  clearly  pro- 
pounded and  opened  in  some  place  of  Scripture  or  other  that  not 
only  the  learned,  but  the  unlearned,  in  a  due  use  of  the  ordinary 
means,  may  attain  unto  a  sufficient  understanding  of  them " 
(Westm.  Conf.,  chap.  i.  sect.  vii.).  Herein  the  Presbyterians  lift 
the  standard  of  Protestantism  as  against  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
tradition  and  the  right  of  the  Church  to  be  the  sole  interpreter, 
more  firmly  than  the  Lutherans  and  the  Episcopalians.  Yet  the 
emphasis  laid  upon  the  value  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  and 
the  obligation  upon  all  the  clergy  to  sign  .it,  seem  practically  to 
bring  back  the  old  principle,  and  to  betray  an  unwillingness  to 
leave  the  Bible  to  "  the  use  of  the  ordinary  means."  Yet  the 
Bible  remains  as  court  of  final  appeal. 

Presbyterians  hold  to  the  Protestant  distinction  between  the 
visible  and  the  invisible  Church,  all  parts  of  the  former  being 
"  subject  to  mixture  and  error."  Yet  out  of  the  visible  Church 
"  there  is  no  ordinary  possibility  of  salvation."  Calvin  strove  to 
make  the  Presbyterian  Church  the  established  Church  at  Geneva, 
and  this  was  the  ideal  of  the  Church  in  Scotland.  The  different 
position  of  the  Presbyterians  in  America  seems  to  mark  a  great 
change  in  this  doctrine. 

As  in  Presbyterianism  we  leave  entirely  behind  the  idea  of 
supreme  Church  authority,  so  we  leave  the  idea  of  the  sacraments 
as  material  channels  of  supernatural  grace.  Both  consubstantia- 
tion  and  transubstantiation  in  the  Eucharist  are  denied.  Christ 
is  present  only  spiritually,  "  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  being 
not  corporally  or  carnally  in,  with,  or  under  the  bread  and  wine, 
yet  as  really,  but  spiritually,  present  to  the  faith  of  believers  in 
that  ordinance  as  the  elements  themselves  are  to  the  outward 


104  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

senses."  Unworthy  persons  do  not  receive,  therefore,  the  essen- 
tial element  in  the  ordinance  (Westm.  Conf.,  chap.  xxix.  sect. 
vii.).  Baptism  is  "a  sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,"  but 
in  itself  conveys  no  grace. 

Another  new,  and  though  minor  yet  practically  important,  doc- 
trine which  the  Presbyterians  brought  in  is  that  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  Catholics.  Lutherans,  and  Anglicans,  while  insisting  on  Sun- 
day as  a  day  of  rest,  did  not  insist  upon  the  cessation  of  all 
pleasure.  Nor  did  Calvin  himself.  It  is  to  the  Presbyterians 
that  we  owe  what  is  called  "  the  Puritan  Sabbath." 

The  essential  doctrine  of  Presbyterianism  is  the  absolute  and 
unquestionable  sovereignty  of  God,  which,  though  just  and  loving, 
is  above  the  comprehension  of  the  human  intellect,  as  it  is  beyond 
the  influence  of  human  character.  The  Confession  must  be  read 
to  show  how  thoroughly  this  doctrine  is  worked  out.  It  is  best 
known  under  the  form  of  "  the  five  points  of  Calvinism." 

1.  Total  Depravity.     "From  this  original  corruption  [that  of 
our  first  parents  after  the   Fall],  whereby  we  are  utterly  indis- 
posed, disabled,  and  made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  inclined 
to  all  evil,  do  proceed  all  actual  transgressions  "  (Westm.  Conf.? 
chap.  vi.). 

2.  Unconditional    Election.       Out    of    the    universal    wreck, 
though  all  souls  deserve  to  perish,  God  determines  to  save  some, 
but  irrespective  of  their  own  acts  or  merits.     "  By  the  decree  of 
God,  for  the  manifestation  of  His  glory,  some  men  and  angels 
are  predestinated  unto  everlasting  life  and  others  foreordained 
unto  everlasting  death.     These  angels    and  men,  thus  predesti- 
nated and  foreordained,  are   particularly  and  unchangeably  de- 
signed ;  and  their  number  is  so  certain  and  definite  that  it  cannot 
be  increased  or  diminished.     Those  of  mankind  that  are  predes- 
tinated unto  life,  God,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  was 
laid,  according  to  His  eternal  and  immutable  purpose,  and  the 
secret   counsel   and  good   pleasure   of  His  will,  hath  chosen  in 
Christ,  unto  everlasting  glory,  out  of  His  mere  free  grace  and 
love,  without  any  foresight  of  faith  or  good  works,  or  persever- 
ance  in  either  of  them,  or  any  other  thing  in  the  creature,  as 
conditions,  or  causes  moving  him  thereunto ;  and  all  to  the  praise 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  105 

of  His  glorious  grace.  The  rest  of  mankind  God  was  pleased, 
according  to  the  unsearchable  counsel  of  His  own  will,  whereby 
He  extendeth  or  withholdeth  mercy  as  He  pleaseth,  to  pass  by,  and 
to  ordain  them  to  dishonor  and  wrath  for  their  sin,  to  the  praise 
of  His  glorious  justice."  (Westin.  Conf.,  chap.  iii.  sect.  iii..v. 
and  vii.).  The  latter  part  of  this  passage  Presbyterians  call  the 
doctrine  of  "  preterition,"  or  passing  by ,  and  distinguish  be- 
tween it  and  "  reprobation,"  or  fixing  the  non-elect  in  their  sin. 
The  Confession  also  asserts  the  freedom  of  the  human  will,  leav- 
ing the  apparent  contradiction  between  it  and  divine  sovereignty 
unsolved,  as  beyond  the  reach  of  the  human  intellect. 

3.  Particular  Atonement.     The  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  not  for  all 
men,  but  only  for  those  who  are  chosen,  and  who  therefore  have 
received  as  a  gift  the  very  faith  by  which  the  merits  of  Christ 
can  be  appropriated. 

4.  Effectual  Grace,     Those  who  are  chosen  are  saved,  not  by 
anything  they  may  do  for  themselves,  but  by  the  power  of  God 
working  in  them  "to  will  and  to  do  of  His  own  good  pleasure." 
"Yet  so  as  they  come  most  freely,  being  made  willing  by  His 
grace"  (Westm.  Conf.,  chap.  x.). 

5.  The  Perseverance  of  the  Saints,  —  that  is,  the  preservation  of 
the  elect  to  the  end.     "  They  whom  God  hath  accepted  in  His 
Beloved,  effectually  called  and  sanctified  by  His  Spirit,  can  neither 
totally  nor  finally  fall  away  from  the  state  of  grace  ;  but  shall 
certainly  persevere  therein  to  the  end,  and  be  eternally  saved  " 
(Westm.  Conf.,  chap.  xvii.). 

Whether  the  Confession  teaches  the  damnation  of  non-elect 
infants  and  heathen  is  debated  by  many  Presbyterians,  but  the 
prevalent  belief  in  earlier  days  would  seem  to  confirm  the  charge 
that,  it  does  so  teach.  "Elect  infants,  dying  in  infancy,  are 
regenerated  and  saved  by  Christ  through  the  Spirit.  ...  So  are 
all  other  elect  persons,  who  are  incapable  of  being  called  out- 
wardly by  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  Others,  not  elected,  .  .  . 
cannot  be  saved ;  .  .  .  and  to  assert  that  they  may  is  very  per- 
nicious and  to  be  detested"  (Westm.  Conf.,  chap.  x.). 

In  other  points,  as  the  Trinity,  the  deity  of  Christ,  eternal 
punishment  and  reward,  etc.,  the  Presbyterians  substantially  hold 
the  faith  common  to  Evangelical  Christians. 


106  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

Government.  —A  complete  church  has  three  classes  of  officers, 
—  the  teaching  elder,  or  pastor ;  the  ruling  elders,  who  with  the 
pastor  constitute  the  "church  session,"  to  govern  the  congregation  •, 
and  the  deacons,  who  manage  the  financial  affairs.  The  churches 
in  a  certain  district  unite  informing  a  "  presbytery,"  which  is 
made  up  of  the  pastor  and  one  ruling  elder  from  each  church 
session.  A  number  of  adjacent  presbyteries  unite  to  form  a 
"  synod,"  to  which  are  sent  all  the  ministers  and  one  ruling  elder 
from  each  session  within  the  region  covered  by  the  presbyteries. 
The  highest  court  is  the  "  General  Assembly,"  to  which  the 
presbyteries  elect  an  equal  number  of  ministers  and  ruling  elders 
as  delegates.  These  bodies  form  a  series  of  courts  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  all  difficulties  and  the  enactment  of  all  needed  regula- 
tions, appeal  being  made  from  lower  to  higher  as  in  the  secular 
courts.  The  result  is -a  very  compact  and  effective  organization. 

Statistics.  —  There  are  said  to  be  over  20,000,000  Presby- 
terians (3,500,000  communicants)  in  the  world,  including,  how- 
ever, the  "Reformed"  churches.  The  largest  number  in  any 
European  country  is  in  Scotland,  —  3,600,000.  In  the  United 
States  there  are  (1890)  1,229,000  communicants  and  (estimated) 
3,500,000  adherents.  Of  these  775,903  communicants  (30  synods, 
213  presbyteries,  6,894  churches)  are  in  the  Northern  body, 
168,971  in  the  Southern,  163,216  in  the  Cumberland,  and  103,921 
in  the  United. 


Many  Unitarian  churches  in  England  are  related  to  the  Presby- 
terians as  most  of  those  of  New  England  are  to  the  Con«;rega- 
tionahsts.  It  was  from  them  that  our  churches  were  developed, 
sometimes  gradually,  sometimes  suddenly  and  with  controversy. 
Yet  no  branch  of  Protestantism  seems  further  away  from  us  than 
the  Presbyterians.  They  are  compactly  organized,  and  their 
churches  are  ruled  by  higher  bodies  ;  while  ours  are  very  loosely 
attached  to  one  another,  and  would  resent  any  interference  with 
their  congregational  independence.  We  are  descended  from  the 
side  of  Cromwell  in  the  great  division  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Again,  the  Presbyterians  have  the  most  systematic  and  authonta 
tive  form  of  faith  among  Protestants,  while  we  steadfastly  refuse 
to  formulate  our  belief  at  all  Doubtless  manv  of  us  have  envied 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  107 

them  their  "  body  of  divinity,"  and  their  unity  upon  it ;  but  the- 
re vision  movement  of  1889  has  brought  to  light  a  long-hidden  and 
extensive  rebellion  against  the  most  extreme  doctrines  of  the 
Confession,  and  the  fact  that  they  have  been  lying  unused  in 
many  a  church  It  is  precisely  this  temptation  to  insincerity, 
this  hindrance  to  freedom  of  expression  if  not  of  thought,  which 
Unitarians  dread  when  tempted  to  adopt  a  creed.  It  is  needless 
to  add  that  in  the  doctrines  themselves  we  stand  far  away  from 
the  Presbyterians,  they  emphasizing  the  sovereignty  of  God,  we 
the  dignity  of  man. 

Yet  they  deserve  well  of  Protestants  for  their  frank  proclama- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  as  the  sole  standard  of  belief.  Neither 
the  Lutherans  nor  the  Church  of  England  did  this  unreservedly. 
The  Presbyterians  are  thus  the  "  color-guard  "  of  Protestantism. 
And  they  deserve  the  respect  of  thoughtful  people  for  their 
equally  frank  and  sturdy  facing  of  the  facts  of  human  life.  The 
truth  in  the  doctrine  of  predestination  has  already  been  pointed 
out  (p.  35).  Calvin  and  modern  science  are  at  one  here  so  far 
as  this  world  is  concerned.  And,  finally,  the  Presbyterians  de- 
serve the  gratitude  of  all  lovers  of  freedom  for  the  courage  and 
persistence  with  which  they  faced  both  the  Roman  Church  and 
the  Church  of  England,  in  the  interests  not  only  of  religion,  but 
of  political  liberty.  They  represented  the  people  in  their  strug- 
gle with  nobles  and  kings.  It  was  from  them  that  the  Puritans 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  came,  and  though  they  soon  became  con- 
gregational in  polity,  the  doctrines  of  Presbyterianism  remained 
long  in  power,  and  should  be  remembered  as  the  doctrines  of 
those  who  determined  the  destiny  of  the  New  World. 


QUESTIONS. 

What  does  the  word  "Presbyterian"  mean  ?  How  does  a  Presbyterian 
differ  in  polity  from  an  Episcopalian?  from  a  Congregationnlist  ?  From 
whom  did  Presbyterianism  take  shape  ?  Tell  what  you  know  of  him. 
What  was  his  purpose?  How  far  did  he  succeed?  Where  was  Presbyte- 
rianism most  successful?  How  did  it  stand  politically?  What  was  the 
"League  and  Covenant"?  Why  were  the  Presbyterians  hostile  to  Crom- 
well ?  What  do  you  know  of  the  Covenanters  ?  What  secessions  have 
happened?  What  is  the  "  Free  Church  of  Scotland  "  ?  How  does  it  differ 
from  the  Established  Church  ?  Who  brought  Presbyterianism  to  this 
country  ?  What  division  runs  through  its  history  here  ?  What  were  "  Old 
School"  and  ''New  School**  ?  Who  are  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  ? 

By  whom  were  the  Presbyterian  doctrines  formulated?  In  what  docu- 
ments are  they  contained  ?  Why  is  the  Confession  called  the  *'  Westmin- 


108  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

ster  "  ?  What  do  the  American  churches  omit?  What  is  the  Presbyterian 
ground  as  to  Scripture  ?  Why  is  it  important  to  notice  this  V  How  do 
Presbyterians  regard  their  Confession  ?  Is  there  any  inconsistency  here? 
What  difference  does  it  make  whether  the  Westminster  Assembly  or  the 
Vatican  Council  be  made  the  authority  as  to  what  Scripture  teaches  ?  What 
do  Presbyterians  hold  as  to  the  Church  ?  Are  they  anywhere  the  Estab- 
lished Church  ?  What  do  they  believe  as  to  the  sacraments  V  How  does  this 
differ  from  Romanism  ?  from  Anglicanism  ?  What  is  their  idea  of  the 
Sabbath  V  How  does  this  differ  from  the  Roman  Catholic  idea  V  from  the 
Jewish  ?  Ought  we  to  say  Sabbath  or  Sunday  ?  What  is  the  essential 
doctrine  of  Presbyterianism  ?  Name  "the  fiye  points  of  Calvinism."  Do 
you  think  that  anybody  is  utterly  unable  to  do  any  good?  Is  there  a 
distinction  between  a  sinful  disposition  and  sinful  acts?  How  deejj  does 
sin  go  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  predestination  and  preterition  ? 
Does  the  latter  word  really  relieve  God  from  blame  for  eternal  damnation  ? 
How  far  is  your  faith  the  result  of  your  own  effort  V  Is  it  not  to  some  extent 
the  gift  of  God  ?  Is  particular  atonement  just  ?  Would  a  universal  atone- 
ment be  just  ?  What  is  "  effectual  grace  "  ?  What  does  the  word  "  grace  " 
mean  ?  How  does  it  differ  from  partiality  V  Is  not  God,  then,  a  "respecter 
of  persons"?  What  does  "the  perseverance  of  the  saints"  mean?  As 
far  as  you  can  see,  do  all  saints  persevere  to  the  end  V  Do  you  think  that 
the  Confession  teaches  the  damnation  of  infants  ?  Would  it  be  any  more 
unjust  to  damn  infants  than  adults  who  cannot  help  themselves?  Does  not 
the  doctrine  of  predestination  necessarily  involve  both  ? 

How  are  Unitarians  related  to  Presbyterians?  How  do  we  differ  from 
them  in  government  ?  in  the  matter  of  a  creed  ?  What  objection  to  a  creed 
appears  in  their  recent  history?  On  what  points  is  revision  demanded? 
What  have  they  done  for  Protestantism  ?  for  the  philosophy  of  life  ?  for 
political  freedom  ?  for  Massachusetts  and  America  ? 

REFERENCES. 

For  history,  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  669-813;  Green,  Short  History  of  the 
Enybsh  People,  chap,  viii.;  Encyclopedia  Bntannica,  article  "Presbyte- 
rianism;" McClintock  and  Strong;  Lives  of  Calvin  and  Knox.  On  Calvin, 
see  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  421-467;  Merle  d'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  the  Time  of  Calvin,  vol.  vl.  chaps.  1-15.;  A-  P.  Stanley's  Lectures 
on  the  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  For  a  graphic  account  of  the 
Disruption  of  1843,  see  Life  of  Di\  Guthrie  and  that  of  Dr,  Chalmers. 
On  the  history  in  various  countries,  see  Drysdale's  History  of  the  Presby 
terians  in  England;  A.  F.  Mitchell's  The  Westminster  Assembly:  Its 
History  and  Standards;  Neat's  History  of  the  Puritans,-  Carlyle's  Crom- 
well; C.  A.  Briggs's  American  Presbyterianism;  E.  H.  Gilletfs  History  of 


A    STUDY    OF    THE   SECTS.  109 

the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  L.  W.  Bacon's  Genesis  of  the  New  England 
Churches;  and  the  histories  of  Palfrey  and  Bancroft.  For  doctrine,  Schaff 
as  above;  also  vol.  Hi.  pp.  600-676,  where  the  Westminster  Confession  and 
Catechism  are  given  in  full.  Dr.  C.  A.  Briggs,  in  Whither,  maintains 
that  the  later  Presbyterians  have  departed  from  the  Confession,  and  throws 
much  light  upon  its  original  meaning.  H.  B.  Smith's  Christian  Theoloyy , 
C.  Hodge^s  Systematic  Theology,  3  vols.,  and  his  Discussions  in  Church 
Polity,  Thomas  Witherow's  Which  is  the  Apostolic  Church;  Froude's 
"Calvinism,"  in  Short  Studies,  vol.  i.;  S.  J.  Barrows's  The  Doom  of  the 
Majority ;  Michael  Wlgglesworth's  The  Day  of  Doom ;  and  the  witings  of 
Jonathan  Edwards  show  what  New  England  Calvinism  was. 


6.  THE   CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

THE  churches  of  Christ  salute  you.  —  ROM.  xvi.  16. 

Name.  —  A  Congregationalist  is  one  who  believes  that  every 
congregation  should  govern  itself,  instead  of  being  governed  by 
bishops,  as  the  Episcopalians  are,  or  by  a  series  of  courts,  as  the 
Presbyterians  are.  In  this  wider  sense  the  name  belongs  also  to 
Baptists,  Unitarians,  and  other  Sects;  but  it  is  usually  assigned 
to  and  claimed  by  the  denomination  which  first  made  the  con- 
gregational principle  its  characteristic.  As  the  first  Unitarian 
churches  in  Xe\v  England  were  mainly  of  this  denomination, 
many  of  them  retain  the  name  "  Congregational,"  to  which,  as 
bein<i  still  self-governed,  they  are  strictly  entitled.  The  Trinita- 
rian Congregationalists  in  Massachusetts  are  popularly  called 
'•the  Orthodox,"  ns  holding  to  the  old  creeds.  The  Congrega- 
tionalists of  England,  where  the  denomination  began,  called  them- 
selves "Independents"  until  this  century,  but  now  belong  to  the 
•'  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales." 

History.  —  The  Independent  principle  marked  the  third  step 
in  the  revolt  from  Roman  Catholicism  in  the  English  Reforma- 
tion, the  Anglican  being  the  first,  and  the  Presbyterian  the 
second.  Of  the  Puritan  party,  who  wished  to  preserve  the 
national  Church,  but  to  purify  it  still  further  from  the  errors  of 
Rome,  rejecting  all  rites,  vestures,  festivals,  etc.,  not  expressly 


110  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

authorized  by  Scripture,  some  gave  up  their  demands  in  face  of 
the  Church's  stern  resistance,  but  others  began  to  ask  themselves 
what  authority  the  Church,  or  anybody  but  Christ,  had  to  control 
the  worship  of  any  one.  This  led  to  withdrawal,  not  only  from 
the  Church  of  England,  but  from  its  first  offshoot,  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  which  also  claimed  authority  over  the  single 
congregation.  The  first  Independent  church  was  founded  at 
Norwich,  in  1580,  by  Robert  Browne.  It  was  at  once  assailed 
by  State  persecution  and  popular  ridicule,  and  "called  "  Separa- 
tist," or  '*  Brownist."  It  soon  found  itself  obliged  to  leave  the 
country,  and  went  to  Middleburg,  in  Zealand,  but  there  was 
broken  by  poverty  and  internal  dissensions;  and  its  people 
returned  to  England,  Browne  joining  the  Church  of  England 
again. 

More  successful  and  creditable  was  the  work  of  Henry  Barrowe 
and  John  Greenwood,  who  founded  a  church  in  London,  in  1592. 
They  were  both  put  to  death  the  following  year,  but  the  church 
removed  to  Amsterdam.  This  church  differed  from  Browne's 
in  not  being  governed  directly  by  congregational  vote,  but  by  the 
board,  or  "  Session,"  of  elders,  including  pastor  and  teacher, 
which  it  first  chose,  and  then  obeyed.  So  far  it  followed  the 
Presbyterians,  but  there  stopped,  acknowledging  no  higher  au- 
thority. This  form  of  government,  sometimes  called  "  Barrow- 
ism,"  became  the  model  of  the  Congregational  churches  for  a 
long  time,  both  in  England  and  in  New  England. 

More  celebrated  and  permanent  was  the  church  gathered  at 
Scrooby,  England,  and  emigrating  first  to  Amsterdam,  then  to 
Leyden.  From  the  Leyden  church,  under  John  Robinson,  came 
the  permanent  Congregationalism  both  of  England  and  of  New 
England.  In  1616  Henry  Jacob  returned  to  London  and  founded 
there  the  first  Independent  church  that  remained  alive  in  Eng- 
land. There  adherents  multiplied  fast,  and  under  Cromwell  the 
Independents  became  masters  of  England.  In  1658  the  Savoy- 
Council  was  held  in  London,  which  virtually  adopted  the  West- 
minster Confession,  except  as  to  church  government.  At  the  Res- 
toration the  Independents  were  roughly  handled  by  Charles  II., 
and  by  the  "  Act  of  Uniformity"  in  1662.  Two  thousand  minis- 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  Ill 

ters  were  deprived  of  their  livings,  and  further  oppressed.  Upon 
the  site  of  the  old  Fleet  Prison,  where  some  were  confined,  their 
descendants  have  built  a  Memorial  Hall  and  Library.  After  the 
Revolution  of  1688  the  denomination  obtained  toleration,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  most  influential  in  the  kingdom. 

From  Leyden  went  also  those  "  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  under  Elder 
Brewster  and  Deacon  Carver,  who  founded  the  church  in  Ply- 
mouth in  the  New  World.  They  were  Barrowists,  but  of  a  mild 
type. 

But  American  Congregationalism  in  the  main  is  descended 
from  churches  which  at  first  hated  Independency,  —  those  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  and  Connecticut.  From  1620  to  1640  it  is 
estimated  that  twenty-two  thousand  Puritans  came  to  New  Eng- 
land on  account  of  persecution.  They  did  not  mean  to  leave 
the  "  Mother  Church,"  but  only  to  change  some  of  her  usages. 
But  in  the  new  land  and  under  Plymouth  influence  they  speedily 
became  self-governing,  and  in  time  most  sturdy  opponents  of  the 
Church  of  England.  At  the  first  Synod,  in  Cambridge,  Mass., 
1648,  the  Barrowe  principle  was  adopted.  Gradually,  however, 
the  authority  of  the  elders  decreased,  and  the  congregation 
acquired  full  power,  which  it  still  holds. 

Congregationalism  was  virtually  the  " established  church"  of 
New  England.  In  the  beginning  church  and  town  were  but  the 
same  community  in  different  capacities.  All  voters  were  church 
members,  and  all  adult  male  church  members  were  voters.  Money 
was  raised  by  taxation  for  church  expenses,  as  for  other  town 
needs.  As  the  population  grew  diverse  in  religious  belief,  it  was 
at  first  arranged  that  all  should  be  taxed  to  support  the  Congre- 
gational Church  who  could  not  prove  that  they  supported  any 
other;  and  finally,  but  not  till  1833  in  Massachusetts,  all  church 
faxes  were  remitted,  and  the  Congregationalists  became  before 
the  law  but  one  sect  among  many.  The  suffrage  question  was 
more  troublesome.  For  many  reasons  the  proportion  of  church 
members  to  the  male  population  decreased,  till  it  was  only  one 
fifth.  To  meet  this  difficulty,  the  "  Half-way  Covenant  "  was 
arranged  in  1662,  by  which  persons  of  discreet  lives  were  ad- 
mitted to  all  the  privileges  of  the  church  except  that  of  coming 


112  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

to  the  Lord's  Supper,  on  simply  giving  public  assent  to  the 
covenant  of  the  church,  instead  of,  as  before,  being  required  to 
give  proofs  of  "regeneration."  In  time  unconverted  persons 
were  received  at  communion  also.  Against  the  latter,  and  indeed 
against  what  he  deemed  the  general  decline  of  religious  interest, 
Jonathan  Edwards  protested;  and  about  1740,  under  his  lead  and 
that  of  Whitefield,  the  English  preacher,  a  revival  called  "  The 
Great  Awakening "  swept  over  New  England,  followed  by 
reaction,  and  by  theological  divisions  which  have  never  been 
healed.  Arminianism,  or  the  assertion  of  the  freedom  of  the  will 
as  against  predestination,  largely  replaced  Calvinism;  and, a  lib- 
eral movement  began,  culminating  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury in  the  Unitarian  defection,  which  took  away  most  of  the 
older  churches  in  Massachusetts,  including  the  one  in  Plymouth 
and  the  "First"  churches  in  Boston,  Salem,  Dorchester,  Rox- 
bury,  and  other  large  places,  and  obtained  control  of  Harvard 
College.  In  consequence  of  the  latter  fact,  Andover  Theological 
Seminary  was  established,  in  1808,  which  has  of  late  years  led  in 
the  heresy  of  "future  probation." 

The  growth  of  Congregationalism  in  this  country  was  much 
hindered  by  the  "  Plan  of  Union "  with  the  Presbyterians  in 
evangelizing  the  newly  opened  West.  The  adherents  of  the  two 
bodies  in  any  town  were  to  unite  in  one  church,  choosing  which 
body  they  were  to  affiliate  with,  and  when  becoming  Congrega- 
tionalist,  were  allowed  a  certain  relation  with  the  Presbyterian 
Synods.  But  this  was  found  more  useful  to  the  latter  than  to  the 
former;  and  in  1852  the  "plan"  was  abandoned,  the  Congre- 
gationalists  having,  it  was  estimated,  lost  some  two  thousand 
churches.  Since  then  the  denomination  has  been  increasingly 
active  in  home  missionary  work,  and  has  grown  in  numbers, 
though  not  in  proportion  to  the  population.  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  was  established 
in  1810. 

Government.  —  The  Congregationalists  are  not  a  church,  as 
the  Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians  are,  but  are  gathered  into 
churches,  each  sufficient  unto  itself,  and  deriving  the  right  of  any 
other  earthly  authority  to  control  it.  They  believe  that  this  was 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  113 

the  polity  of  the  churches  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
that  only  two  classes  of  church  officers  are  there  mentioned,  — 
the  pastors,  or  elders,  and  the  deacons. 

The  "church"  is  the  assembly  of  believers  around  a  "cove- 
nant," or  "  declaration  of  faith,"  to  which  they  agree.  There  is 
usually,  but  not  always,  associated  with  the  church  another  body, 
called  the  "  society."  commonly  made  up  from  the  attendants 
upon  public  worship,  whether  they  are  members  of  the  church  or 
not.  The  society  ordinarily  owns  the  ecclesiastical  property,  and 
pays  the  expenses  of  public  worship.  Neither  baptism  nor  attend- 
ance upon  communion  is  requisite  to  membership,  nor  any  pro- 
fession of  belief.  It  represents  to-day  the  citizens  of  the  old  town 
system,  who  were  not  church  members,  but  were  taxed  to  support 
the  church,  and  thus  had  a  right  to  its  public  services.  The 
pastor  of  the  church  is  the  minister  of  the  society,  and  the  two 
bodies  unite  in  settling  him.  The  deacons  are  officers  of  the 
church,  assist  at  the  communion  service,  and  take  charge  of  the 
poor-funds.  Members  are  admitted  to  the  church  by  vote, — 
having  previously  appeared  before  an  examining  committee,  who 
require  evidence  of  their  conversion,  —  and  by  publicly  entering 
into  covenant  with  the  church,  having  received  baptism,  and 
commonly  also  by  a  public  profession  of  belief. 

Though  the  churches  are  thus  independent  of  one  anothers 
control,  they  have  a  fellowship  of  sympathy,  which  they  often 
use  to  ask  advice,  —  as  in  settling  or  dismissing  a  pastor.  Then 
a  "  council "  is  called  of  ministers  and  delegates,  either  chosen  at 
will  or  from  a  definite  circle  of  churches,  by  whose  decision  the 
church  commonly  abides.  It  may,  however,  act  in  every  case 
alone  ;  and  other  churches,  if  disapproving,  can  only  withdraw 
their  feltowship  and  countenance.  It  is  customary,  when  mem- 
bers remove,  to  give  them  letters  to  any  other  church  in  the 
fellowship.  No  letters,  however,  are  given  to  unevangelical 
churches. 

The  churches  of  a  district  are  usually  united  into  a  Conference, 
and  the  Conferences  of  each  State  into  State  Conferences.  The 
National  Council,  meeting  tri-ennially,  is  representative  of  all 
the  churches  in  the  country,  each  Conference  sending  a  delegate 

8 


114  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

for  every  ten  churches,  and  each  State  Conference  one  for  each 
ten  thousand  communicants,  the  delegates  being  half  lay,  half 
clerical.  These  bodies,  however,  are  all  merely  deliberative  and 
advisory,  all  approach  to  control  being  jealously  watched  and 
resisted. 

Doctrine. —  By  the  fundamental  principle  of  Congregation- 
alism there  can  be  no  creed  binding  upon  all  churches.  There  is 
no  body  with  power  to  make  one.  Each  church  makes  its  own. 
There  is  therefore  more  or  less  diversity  of  belief  within  certain 
limits,  which  makes  a  general  statement  somewhat  difficult. 

At  first,  Congregation alists  were  as  strictly  Calvinistic  as  the 
Presbyterians.  The  Cambridge  Synod,  in  1648,  and  the  Savoy 
Conference,  in  1658,  substantially  adopted  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession. The  "  Shorter  Catechism  "  and  Wigglesworth's  "  Day  of 
Doom  "  were  text-books  in  New  England  schools.  But  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  the  original  doctrines  have  been  somewhat 
modified. 

The  "  Statement  of  Doctrine  "  ecommended  in  1883  by  a  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  National  Council  is  the  most  prominent 
recent  utterance.  It  has  been  said  to  give  "  the  low-water  mark 
of  Congregational  belief ; "  that  is,  no  fuller  statement  could 
receive  the  assent  of  all  its  compilers,  who  represented  the  differ- 
ent wings  of  the  denomination.  The  Bible  is  received  as  author- 
ity for  teaching  and  conduct,  as  being  "the  record  of  God's 
revelation  of  Himself  in  the  work  of  redemption,"  and  "written 
by  men  under  the  special  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit/'  The 
Trinity  is  affirmed  substantially  in  terms  of  the  Nicene  Creed. 
"  III.  We  believe  .  .  .  that  our  first  parents  by  disobedience  fell 
under  the  righteous  condemnation  of  God ;  and  that  all  men  are 
so  alienated  from  God  that  there  is  no  salvation  from  the  guilt 
and  power  of  sin  except  by  God's  redeeming  grace.  .  .  .  VI.  We 
believe  that  the  love  of  God  to  sinful  men  has  found  its  highest 
expression  in  the  redemptive  work  of  His  Son  ;  who  became  man, 
uniting  his  divine  nature  with  our  human  nature  in  one  person ; 
.  ,  .  whose  sacrifice  of  himself  for  the  sins  of  the  world  declares 
the  righteousness  of  God,  and  is  the  sole  and  sufficient  ground 
of  forgiveness  and  of  reconciliation  with  Him.  VII.  We  believe 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  115 

that  Jesus  Christ  .  -  sends  the  Holy  Spirit  to.  convict  [men]  of 
sin,  and  to  lead  them  to  repentance  and  faith ;  and  that  those 
who  through  renewing  grace  turn  to  righteousness,  and  trust  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  their  Redeemer,  receive  for  his  sake  the  forgive- 
ness of  their  sins,  and  are  made  the  children  of  God.  VIII.  We 
believe  that  those  who  are  thus  regenerated  and  justified  grow  in 
sanctified  character  through  fellowship  with  Christ,  the  indwelling 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  obedience  to  the  truth ;  that  a  holy  life 
is  the  fruit  and  evidence  of  saving  faith;  and  that  the  believer's 
hope  of  continuance  in  such  a  life  is  in  the  preserving  grace  cf 
God.  IX.  That  to  Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  Christians  are  directly 
responsible  in  faith  and  conduct ;  and  that  to  him  all  have  im- 
mediate access  without  mediatorial  or  priestly  intervention.  .  .  . 
We  believe  ...  in  Baptism,  to  be  administered  to  believers  and 
their  children  as  the  sign  of  cleansing  from  sin,  of  union  to 
Christ,  and  of  the  impartation  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  a  symbol  of  his  atoning  death,  a  seal  of  its  efficacy, 
and  a  means  whereby  he  confirms  and  strengthens  the  spiritual 
union  and  communion  of  believers  with  himself.  XII.  In  a  final 
judgment,  the  issues  of  which  are  everlasting  punishment  and 
everlasting  life."  To  this  Statement  a  "  Confession  of  Faith  "  is 
added,  in  which  the  person  to  be  admitted  into  the  church  states 
his  belief  in  the  words  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

Statistics  ("Year  Book,"  1890).  —  The  Congregationalists 
have  in  the  United  States  4,689  churches,  the  largest  numbers 
being  in  Massachusetts  (557),  Michigan,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
and  Iowa,  —  very  few  in  the  South;  4,408  ministers;  and  491,985 
members.  There  are  also  580,672  pupils  in  Sunday-schools. 
The  benevolent  contributions  were  $2,398,037.  The  home 
expenses  were  about  $5,000,000. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
^pent  about  $670,000,  and  have  472  missionaries  and  assistants. 
There  are  also  a  College  and  Education  Society,  expending 
$110,000;  the  American  Congregational  Union,  about  the  same 
amount  for  building  churches  and  parsonages;  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society,  about  $512,000.  The  American  Mis- 
sionary Association  spends  $323,000,  mainly  upon  colored  people 


116  A   STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

in  the  South ;  a  Sunday-School  and  Publishing  Society,  about 
$4  7,000,  —  the  New  West  Education  Commission  spending  on  the 
children  and  youth  of  Utah  and  adjacent  States  and  Territories 
$78,000.  There  are  also  Women's  Boards  for  foreign  and  home 
missionary  work. 

The  Congregationalists  have  7  Theological  Schools  (notably 
Andover,  Oberlin,  and  Yale),  with  490  students;  and  a  large 
number  of  colleges  and  universities  were  founded  either  wholly 
or  mainly  by  them. 


The  Congregationalists  are  especially  interesting  to  Unitarians  as 
being  the  mother  sect  from  which  their  own  was  born,  or.  consid- 
ered in  another  and  truer  way,  —  since  many  Unitarian  churches 
are  older  than  any  Congregational  churches  in  this  country,  —  as 
brothers  of  the  same  family,  though  we  are  not  allowed  by  them 
to  sit  around  the  same  table  or  live  under  the  same  roof.  Yet 
the  two  bodies  still  have  some  institutions  in  common,  —  as  the 
funds  for  supporting  aged  clergymen  or  their  widows ;  and  as 
experience  and  advancing  thought  mellow  the  former  doctrines 
of  the  Trinitarians,  the  distance  between  the  more  liberal  among 
them  and  the  more  conservative  among  the  Unitarians  has  les- 
sened. It  is  to  the  Congregationalists  that  we  owe  our  democratic 
form  of  church  government ;  our  free  order  of  worship  ;  our  love 
of  an  educated  ministry,  on  which  the  Puritans  so  nobly  insisted ; 
and  indeed,  through  the  doctrinal  discussions  which  they  loved 
and  stimulated,  that  loyalty  to  truth  and  that  liberal  and  progres- 
sive tendency  which  are  so  prominent  among  us. 

In  a  larger  sense,  we  are  as  Americans  indebted  to  them  for 
the  impetus  which  they  gave  to  education  at  the  beginning  of 
their  settlement  in  New  England,  and  which  has  always  marked 
that  section  and  all  other  sections  of  the  country  which  it  has 
influenced.  And  the  republican  form  of  government  is  due  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  free  and  representative  character  of  their 
churches  and  councils.  The  prayer  meeting,  with  its  freedom  of 
speech  to  all,  was  the  father  of  the  town  meeting.  The  Revo- 
lution was  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Congregational 
ministers,  in  marked  contrast  to  the  Toryism  of  the  Episcopalians. 

Our  divergence  from  their  doctrines,  though  greater  in  appear- 
ance than  in  reality,  and  differing  very  much  according  to  the 
church  or  to  the  writer  with  which  we  compare  ourselves,  is  still 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  117 

very  great,  and  until  they  change  much  faster  than  they  have,  is 
irreconcilable.  The  step  which  our  fathers  took,  like  that  of  the 
Reformers  three  centuries  before,  was  greater  than  they  knew. 
Our  name  emphasizes  one  of  the  least  of  our  differences.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  one  of  the  most  harmless  of  the  older 
tenets.  Dr.  Channing's  sermon  on  "  The  Moral  Influence  of 
Calvinism  "  opens  the  real  gulf  between  the  two  parties.  So  long 
as  the  Congregationalists  hold  to  a  helpless  human  nature,  a  vica- 
rious atonement,  and  eternal  punishment  for  temporal  sins, 
our  position  and  our  mission  must  be  separate  from  theirs.  The 
Andover  view  of  a  possible  extension  of  probation  into  the  next 
life,  so  that  heathen  and  others  who  have  not  had  a  fair  chance 
to  receive  the  Gospel  here  shall  have  it  hereafter,  though  held 
by  a  large  section  of  the  denomination,  is  not  yet  dominant ;  and 
if  it  were,  though  it  might  bring  other  changes  in  doctrine  in  its 
train,  it  would  leave  much  divergence  unchanged.  Xot  until  they 
give  fuller  and  franker  recognition  to  the  rights  of  reason  and 
conscience  as  authority  for  truth,  as  against  a  mere  textual  use 
of  the  Bible,  can  the  two  bodies  come  together  again.  Neverthe- 
less, the  growing  respect  and  love  of  each  for  the  other  must 
be  emphasized,  with  the  consciousness  of  a  common  ancestry  and 
of  common  traditions,  which  compel  to  a  common  love  of  truth 
and  duty. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  does  "Congregationalist"  mean?  Who  else  are  entitled  to  the 
name?  Are  Unitarians V  Why?  What  relation  do  the  Congregationalists 
hold  to  the  Presbyterians  ?  to  the  Episcopalians  ?  to  the  Puritans  ?  What 
were  they  first  called  ?  Why  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  a  Brownist 
and  a  Barrowist  ?  Trace  the  fortunes  of  the  Scrooby  congregation.  When, 
were  the  Independents  masters  of  England  ?  Recall  what  you  know  of 
Cromwell.  What  was  the  Savoy  Confession?  the  Act  of  Uniformity? 
When  did  the  Independents  get  toleration  in  England?  What  was  the 
difference  between  the  "Pilgrims"  and  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
in  intention?  in  church  government?  When  did  the  latter  change,  and 
how  ?  What  was  the  relation  of  Church  and  State  in  Massachusets  ? 
When  did  this  cease?  By  what  steps?  W'hat  was  the  u Half-way  Cove- 
nant" ?  What  did  Jonathan  Edwards  do?  What  was  the  consequencs ? 
What  is  Arminianism  ?  What  success  had  Unitarianism  ?  What  was  the 
"  Plan  of  Union  "  ?  its  result  ? 

How  do  Congregationalists  differ  from  Episcopalians  in  church  govern- 
ment ?  from  Presbyterians  ?  What  is  their  distinction  between  "  church  " 
and  "  society  "?  What  was  the  origin  of  it?  What  are  deacons?  How 
are  members  admitted  ?  What  is  the  relation  of  churches  to  each  other  ? 


118  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

How  much  authority  has  a  council  ?  Can  a  letter  to  a  Unitarian  church  be 
obtained  from  a  Congregational  church?  What  is  the  National  Council? 
What  authority  has  it  ? 

Have  Congregationalists  a  common  creed  ?  Why  ?  What  was  their 
original  doctrine  ?  What  is  the  best  statement  of  their  present  belief  V  Is 
there  any  difference  between  a  revelation  and  the  record  of  a  revelation  ? 
What  is  their  doctrine  of  God  ?  What  do  you  think  of  their  doctrine  of 
the  fall  of  man  ?  of  his  condition  ?  What  is  their  belief  about  Jesus  V  What 
is  implied  in  the  word  "  sole "  ?  Is  not  the  question  of  predestination 
evaded  in  Article  VII.?  What  truth  or  fallacy  can  you  find  in  Article  VIII. ? 
What  relation  of  faith  and  works  is  stated  there  ?  Can  a  believer  fall  from 
grace,  according  to  this  ?  What  is  the  bearing  of  Article  IX.  on  the  Catholic 
Church  ?  on  Presbyterianism  ?  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  V 
Compare  it  with  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran.  What  is  the  view  of  the  Last 
Judgment  ?  Do  you  think  this  statement  of  faith  is  very  definite  ?  Why  ? 

What  is  the  relation  of  the  Congregationalists  to  the  Unitarians?  What 
do  we  owe  to  them  ?  What  does  America  owe  to  them  ?  Wherein  do  we 
still  differ  from  them  ?  Have  you  read  Channing's  sermon?  How  do  you 
like  Congregationalists  generally  ?  What  great  preachers  of  theirs  can  you 
think  of  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  most  convenient  authority  is  A  Hand-Book  of  Congregationalism,  by 
II.  M.  Dexter,  a  condensation  of  his  larger  work,  Congregationalism:  What 
it  is,  etc.  George  Punchard's  Congregationalism  In  America  from  1629  to 
1879.  „  In  Schaff,  see  vol.  i.  pp.  820-840;  vol.  iii.  p.  707  (the  Savoy  Decla- 
ration), p.  910  (the  American  Creed  of  1883).  McCIintock  and  Strong; 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  articles  "Independents"  and  u  Congregational- 
ism-, "  Green,  Short  History,  chaps.  7  and  8;  Fisher,  pp.  611-615;  R.  W. 
Dale's  A  Manual  of  Congregational  Principles  (in  England).  The  racy 
biographies  of  John  Todd  and  Lyman  Beecher,  and  Mrs.  Stowe's  Minis- 
ter's Wooing,  Poganuc  People,  and  Oldtoicn  Folks,  give  pictures  of  New 
England  ministers  and  church  life  in  the  early  part  of  this  century. 
Palfrey's  History  of  New  England;  Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American 
Pulpit,  vols.  i.  ii.  iii.;  George  E.  Ellis,  The  Puritan  Age  in  Massachusetts; 
Brooks  Adams,  The  Emancipation  of  Massachusetts  (not  good-tempered  or 
just,  but  containing  interesting  facts);  J.  K.  Hosmer,  Young  Sir  Harry 
Vane.  Leonard  Bacon,  Genesis  of  the  New  England  Churches,  emphasizes 
the  distinction  between  u Pilgrim"  and  "Puritan,"  giving  most  of  his  book 
to  the  former.  John  Fiske's  The  Beginnings  of  New  England  is  valuable, 
especially  for  its  admirable  first  chapter. 


A   STUDY   OP   THE    SECTS.  119 


7.  THE    BAPTISTS. 

BURIED  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are  risen  with  him. 
COL.  ii.  12. 

Name. — The  word  "Baptist"  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
BaTTTifw  (baptizo),  meaning  (Thayer's  Greek-English  Lexicon  of 
the  New  Testament)  "  to  dip,"  "  to  immergeo"  The  name  first 
given,  though  never  accepted,  was  "  Anabaptists "  (or  Again- 
baptists),  because  they  denied  the  validity  of  infant  baptism,  and 
obliged  people  baptized  in  infancy  to  receive  the  rite  again. 

History.  —  The  denial  of  the  validity  of  infant  baptism  and 
the  insistence  upon  immersion  as  a  form  have  probably  been  held 
by  individuals,  though  not  by  churches,  from  the  beginning  of 
Christian  history.  They  are  found  in  various  sects  or  parties  of 
the  Church  during  the  Middle  Ages,  notably  the  Waldenses;  but 
it  came  into  prominence,  very  soon  after  Luther  had  stirred  up 
the  latent  heresies  and  dissatisfactions  of  Europe,  in  the  sect 
called  the  Anabaptists.  Unfortunately,  the  main  doctrine  became 
mixed  with  various  fanatical  and  even  immoral  doctrines,  which 
had  no  real  bearing  upon  it,  and  for  which  it  was  in  no  way 
responsible.  The  doctrine  found  more  worthy  support  in  Zurich 
and  amcmg  the  Mennonites  of  Holland,  who  were  devout,  peace- 
able, and  pure  people,  abstaining  from  participation  in  civil  gov- 
ernment, and  maintaining  the  right  of  religious  liberty.  In  fact, 
the  first  one  who  ever  proclaimed  this  right  was  Balthazar 
Hubmaier,  one  of  the  original  Anabaptists  of  Germany,  who 
was  burned  at  the  stake  in  1528. 

It  was  in  Holland  that  the  English  Independents,  or  Brownists, 
first  came  into  contact  with  Anabaptist  doctrines;  and  one  of 
their  ministers  in  Amsterdam,  the  Rev.  John  Smyth,  became  a 
convert  to  them,  and  formed  a  new  church,  part  of  which  came 
to  London  in  1612.  The  early  history  of  the  sect  there  is  uncer- 
tain ;  but  it  is  known  that  a  church  existed  in  1633,  and  from 
that  time  adherents  multiplied  fast.  They  were  opposed  by 
all  the  sects  then  in  existence,  and  were  persecuted  through  all 


120  A    STUDY   OF    THE    SECTS. 

the  changes  of  religious  control.  The  Revolution  of  1688  gave 
toleration  to  them,  as  to  all  dissenters ;  but  they  soon  divided  into 
"  General  Baptists,"  who  believed  that  the  atonement  was  for  all 
men  to  accept  or  reject,  and  "  Particular  Baptists,"  who  believed 
that  it  was  for  the  elect  alone.  The  latter  is  the  Baptist  sect 
of  to-day.  The  former  divided  again  into  "Old  Connection," 
who  became  generally  Unitarian,  and  "  Xew  Connection,"  who 
correspond  to  what  we  call  Free  (Will)  Baptists. 

The  founder  of  the  denomination  in  this  country  was  Roger 
Williams,  a  clergyman  of  education  and  prominence  in  the 
Church  of  England,  who  became  an  Independent,  fled  to  this 
country  in  1631,  and  was  pastor  of  the  church  in  Salem. 
Denying  the  validity  of  the  royal  charter  to  the  colony,  and  the 
right  of  the  magistrates  in  matters  of  religion,  he  was  banished 
by  them,  went  southward  through  the  woods,  and  founded  a 
settlement,  which  in  gratitude  he  named  "  Providence."  There,, 
having  become  a  convert  to  the  Baptist  doctrines,  he  had  himself 
immersed  by  a  layman,  whom  he  in  turn  baptized  in  the  same 
way,  with  ten  others,  and  then  founded  in  Providence  the  first 
Baptist  church  in  America,  1638.  The  sect  spread  rapidly.  In 
Massachusetts  it  was  bitterly  persecuted,  —  partly  on  mere  theo- 
logical grounds,  partly  because  of  the  persistence  of  the  Bap- 
tists in  annoying  ways,  partly  from  fear  of  the  effect  on  the 
attitude  of  the  crown  toward  the  colony.  They  were  at  length 
allowed  freedom  of  worship,  and  in  1833  participated  in  the 
equality  of  all  sects  before  the  law.  In  Virginia  also  they  were 
persecuted  by  the  Episcopalians,  any  man  who  refused  to  bring 
his  child  to  "  a  lawful  minister  "  to  be  baptized  being  fined  two 
thousand  pounds  of  tobacco.  Equality  was  granted  there  in 
1785. 

The  Baptists  originated  in  the  laboring  classes  of  Germany, 
and  still  have  their  strength  in  the  middle  classes  of  English  and 
American  society.  Over  three  fourths  of  those  in  this  country 
are  in  the  former  slave  States,  and  they  divide  the  negroes  with 
the  Methodists.  The  largest  numbers  in  any  State  are  in  Vir- 
ginia and  Georgia,  though  they  are  very  strong  in  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island.  They  have  not  in  the  past  been  as  insistent 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  121 

flpon  the  education  of  their  ministers  as  the  Congregationalists, 
especially  in  the  South. 

Government.  —  The  Baptists  are  congregational  in  their 
polity ;  that  is,  every  church  governs  itself,  and  formulates  its 
own  creed  and  covenant,  owning  no  control  from  any  human 
authority,  Christ  being  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  the  Bible 
the  only  source  of  doctrine.  There  are  associations  of  churches 
for  mutual  sympathy  and  for  co-operation  in  common  causes ;  but 
congregational  independence  is  jealously  guarded. 

Doctrines.  — Being  congregational  in  polity,  the  Baptists  can 
have  no  creed  binding  upon  all  churches.  Each  congregation  is 
supposed  to  draw  up  its  own  statement  of  belief  from  its  own 
study  of  the  Scriptures.  Yet  few  denominations  have  greater 
unity  in  doctrine.  The  Northern  Baptists  accept  what  is  called 
the  "New  Hampshire  Confession"  (1833);  while  those  of  the 
South  and  of  England  are  more  attached  to  the  "  Philadelphia 
Confession,"  which  appeared  first  in  London  in  1677,  and  was 
adopted  early  in  the  last  century  by  the  "  Philadelphia  Associa- 
tion." They  are,  however,  not  authoritative  statements,  and  they 
differ  little  from  each  other. 

The  Baptist  doctrine  is  Calvintstic,  and  is  therefore  essentially 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Congregationalists,  baptism  and  its  impli- 
cations excepted.  The  Baptists  have,  however,  kept  Calvinism 
far  more  intact  than  the  Congregationalists.  Their  peculiar  doc- 
trines are :  (1)  Denial  of  the  validity  of  infant  baptism.  The 
ordinance,  they  affirm,  is  to  be  given  only  on  profession  of  faith 
in  Christ,  and  is  therefore  meaningless  when  applied  to  infants. 
They  can  find  no  case  of  infant  baptism  in  the  New  Testament. 
(2)  Insistence  upon  immersion  as  the  only  valid  form  of  baptism. 
They  claim  that  this  was  the  original  form  as  it  was  adopted  and 
urged  by  Jesus,  and  is  implied  in  the  language  used  by  Scripture, 
—  as  in  descriptions  of  baptism  (Matt.  iii.  16  ;  John  iii.  23;  Acts 
viii.  38,  39),  and  in  Paul's  frequent  figure  of  baptism  being  a 
burial  and  resurrection.  They  baptize  either  in  natural  bodies 
of  water  or  in  tanks  prepared  beneath  the  pulpits  of  their 
churches.  (3)  u  Close  Communion,"  —  that  is,  exclusion  from 
the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  of  all  such  as  have  not  been 


122  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

immersed.  This  doctrine,  however,  has  during  this  century  been 
given  up  by  many  English  Baptists.  (4)  Freedom  of  worship  to 
all.  This  has,  of  course,  ceased  to  be  a  distinctive  mark  of  the 
Baptists,  but  was  so  once,  and  deserves  to  be  still  mentioned. 

There  are  several  sects  who  are  Baptists  as  to  baptism,  but 
vary  on  other  points.  Some  of  them  are  mentioned  here  only 
for  convenience,  as  they  have  no  real  connection  with  the  Bap- 
tists. Most  numerous  are  the  Freewill  Baptists  (115,000),  who 
began  in  New  Hampshire,  in  1 780,  and  now  call  themselves  Free 
Baptists.  They  are  Arminian,  —  that  is,  they  deny  predestina- 
tion and  limited  atonement,  and  assert  the  "  free  will "  of  all  men 
to  accept  or  reject  the  terms  of  salvation, — and  hold  "open 
communion."  The  Mennonites  (93,000)  are  of  Dutch  origin, 
rejecting  infant  baptism,  but  using  pouring  as  a  form.  The 
"  Church  of  God,"  or  "  Winebrennarians  "  (about  30,000),  —  so 
called  from  their  founder,  Rev.  John  Winebrenner,  —  left  the 
Lutherans,  in  1820,  on  the  question  of  revivals.  They  baptize 
by  immersion,  but  are  Presbyterian  in  polity.  The  "  Tunkers  " 
100,000)  are  of  German  origin,  immerse  forward  instead  of 
backward  and  do  it  thrice,  observe  the  rite  of  foot-washing,  and 
object  to  "hireling  "  ministers  and  to  organs.  The  "  Seventh-Day 
Baptists  (9,000)  observe  Saturday  as  the  Sabbath.  The  "  Six- 
Principle  Baptists"  (1,450)  have  for  their  creed  the  six  points  in 
Hebrews  vi.  1.  They  live  mostly  in  Rhode  Island.  The  "Anti- 
Mission  "  or  "  Anti-Effort  Baptists  "  (45,000)  oppose  all  mis- 
sionary, Sunday-school,  or  other  efforts  for  conversion,  as  inter- 
fering with  God's  work.  Thej  "  Christian  Baptists  "  deny  the 
Trinity. 

Statistics.  —  There  were  in  1890  ("Year  Book")  32,588 
"regular"  Baptist  churches  in  the  United  States,  with  21,175 
ministers  and  3,070,000  members,  of  whom  2,267,206  were  in  the 
domain  of  the  Southern  Convention,  and  about  equally  divided 
between  the  whites  and  the  negroes.  There  were  17,696  Sunday- 
schools,  with  1,211,696  pupils.  The  church  property  is  valued  at 
over  $58,000,000 ;  while  nearly  $7,000,000  were  paid  for  current 
expenses,  over  $1.000,000  for  missions,  $228,000  for  education, 
and  nearly  $2,000,000  for  building,  poor,  etc.  They  have  7  theo- 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  123 

logical  schools;  31  colleges;  32  seminaries  for  females,  46  for 
males  and  coeducation,  1 7  for  negroes  and  Indians.  There  are 
106  periodicals,  including  those  for  Sunday-schools.  The  foreign 
mission  work  of  the  Northern  Baptists  (279  missionaries,  134,113 
converts)  is  carried  on  through  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  with  two  societies  of  women;  and  the  home  mission  work 
by  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society,  with  also  two 
women's  societies.  The  Southern  Convention  has  corresponding 
apparatus. 

In   Great  Britain   there   are   nearly  330,000  Baptist  commu- 
nicants; in  all  Europe,  400,000;  in  the  world,  3,701,882. 


We  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Baptists  for  their  unflinch- 
ing defence  and  consistent  allowance  of  strict  religious  freedom. 
That  it  is  so  common  now  is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  their  early 
and  constant  advocacy  of  it.  Their  Congregationalism  has  also 
played  its  part  in  the  development  of  free  institutions.  Their 
stout  attack  upon  infant  baptism  in  the  days  when  it  was  univer- 
sally a  superstitious  rite,  partaking  of  the  character  of  ma'gic, 
must  also  be  praised,  even  by  those  who  now  practise  that  beauti- 
ful rite  on  rational,  symbolic  grounds.  Their  early  enthusiasm 
in  the  foreign  missionary  movement,  dating  from  1792,  when 
William  Carey  led  in  the  formation  of  their  missionary  society, 
gives  them,  next  to  the  Catholics  and  the  German  Pietists,  the 
credit  of  having  been  its  leaders. 

On  the  other  hand,  must  we  not  see  in  their  emphasis  upon  an 
outward  form,  as  that  of  baptism,  a  survival  of  the  Jewish  or 
"  Petrine  spirit  ?  Can  we  think  it  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
Jesus,  whatever  texts  may  be  insisted  upon?  He  certainly  gave 
baptism  no  such  prominence  in  his  teachings;  and  his  general 
emphasis  upon  the  inner  life,  and  his  general  tendency  away 
from  forms,  even  from  those  which  he  found  in  use  and  con 
tinned  to  permit,  seem  thoroughly  inconsistent  with  the  Baptist 
position.  There  should  be  no  doubt,  let  it  be  granted,  that 
immersion  was  the  form  in  use  in  his  day ;  but  even  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  usually  so  insistent  upon  primitive  ceremonies,  has 
changed  it  to  sprinkling  or  pouring,  according  to  its  wise  policy 
of  conforming  to  the  demands  of  changing  climates  and  customs 
in  non-essential  matters.  That  the  Baptists  should  insist  upon 
transferring  to  cold  and  icy  regions  the  forms  natural  only  to 
warm  ones  is  a  ri^or  of  ritualism  against  which  real  Christianity 


124  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

must  protest.  As  to  infant  baptism,  it  is  now  among  most  Protes- 
tant bodies  symbolical  of  the  parent's  desire  that  the  child  should 
be  considered  as  adopted  by  the  Church  until  he  is  of  age  to 
choose  for  himself,  and  of  the  parent's  determination  to  care  for 
his  religious  welfare,  to  "  bring  him  up  in  the  nurture  and  admoni- 
tion of  the  Lord,"  and  not  at  all  of  any  change  wrought  in  the 
child  himself.  The  Baptist  protest,  once  universally  needed,  and 
still  valid  as  against  Catholics  and  High  Church  Episcopalians, 
who  look  upon  baptism  as  "  regenerating  "  by  virtue  of  the  divine 
grace  which  it  conveys,  is  not  applicable  to  this  interpretation. 
The  logical  consequence  of  the  insistence,  upon  immersion  — 
namely,  exclusion  from  the  communion  of  all  not  so  baptized  — 
makes  it  still  more  to  be  regretted,  and  sets  the  Baptists,  who 
cling  to  it,  the  more  squarely  against  the  progress  of  Christian 
union. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  does  the  word  "  Baptist "  mean  ?  What  was  the  first  name  given  ? 
How  far  back  can  Baptist  doctrines  be  traced  ?  When  did  they  revive? 
Where  were  they  found  at  their  best  ?  Who  was  the  first  advocate  of  reli- 
gious liberty  ?  How  did  Baptist  doctrines  get  into  England  ?  What  treat- 
ment did  they  receive  ?  How  was  the  body  divided,  and  what  became  of 
the  parts  ?  Who  founded  the  Baptist  sect  in  this  country  ?  Where  was  the 
first  church  formed?  How  did  the  body  fare  in  Massachusetts  ?  When  did 
it  obtain  liberty  ?  Where  is  it  strongest  ?  Where  at  its  best? 

What  is  its  church  government  ?  Has  it  any  authoritative  creed  ?  Why? 
What  statements  of  belief  are  popular  ?  What  is  the  general  cast  of  doc- 
trine ?  Are  they  more  or  less  progressive  than  the  Congregationalists  ? 
What  is  their  doctrine  as  to  infant  baptism  ?  Why  ?  What  as  to  baptism  ? 
Why  ?  What  as  to  the  communion  ?  Why  ?  What  as  to  liberty  of  thought  ? 
Name  some  other  sects  who  are  Baptist  in  any  way.  How  many  Baptists 
are  there  in  this  country  ?  How  do  they  compare  in  numbers  with  the  other 
sects  which  we  have  considered  ? 

How  are  we  indebted  to  the  Baptists  ?  What  was  their  relation  to  political 
freedom  ?  What  good  can  be  said  of  their  resistance  to  infant  baptism  ? 
What  have  they  done  for  foreign  missions?  What  must  we  say  of  their 
insistence  on  a  form  of  baptism?  Was  it  the  original  form?  What  differ- 
ence does  that  make  ?  What  should  we  do  if  we  kept  the  Last  Supper  ex- 
actly as  it  was  instituted  ?  What  is  the  form  of  baptism  used  by  Catholics  ? 
Why  ?  What  ancient  kind  of  religion  is  perpetuated  by  the  insistence  upon 
immersion  ?  Is  it  really  Christian  ?  What  is  the  prevailing  Protestant  idea 
of  infant  baptism  ?  What  sects  practise  it?  What  bodies  hold  a  different 
idea  of  it  ?  What  do  you  think  of  "close  communion"  ?  What  is  your 
general  impression  of  the  Baptists  ? 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 


REFERENCES. 

The  best  manual  is  Baptist  Layman's  Book,  by  W.  W.  Everts,,  D.  D. 
Also  good  are  The  Distinctive  Principles  of  the  Baptists,  by  A.  M.  Poadle- 
ton,  and  The  Baptist  Principle,  by  "W.  C.  Wilkinson;  Baptist  History,  by 
.1.  M.  Cramp  (popular);  A  History  of  the  Baptists,  by  Thomas  AriMtage, 
I).  1).  (best  and  most  comprehensive);  McClintock  and  Strong  and  Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica,  article  "Baptists;"  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  840-851/.  (Ju 
baptism,  see  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary  and  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  under 
this  word,  Thayer's  Greek-English  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament  under 
Ba7rri£w,  and  the  very  interesting  chapter  i.  in  Dean  Stanley's  Christian 
Institutions.  On  the  Baptists  in  this  country,  see  Benedict's  General  His- 
tory of  the  Baptists  in  America;  The  Puritan  Age  in  Massachusetts,  by 
George  E.  Ellis;  Palfrey's  History  of  New  England ;  Memorial  History  of 
Boston;  Virginia,  by  J.  E.  Cooke;  Backus' s  History  of  the  Baptists  of  New 
England,  2  vols. ;  and  Cathcart's  Baptist  Encyclopaedia.  For  the  history  of 
the  minor  bodies,  see  Goodby's  By-paths  in  Baptist  Hislory  and  Stewart's 
History  of  the  Freewill  Baptists.  For  Baptist  doctrines  at  length,  see 
Strong's  Systematic  Theology,  Hovey's  Manual  of  Systematic  Theolovy 
and  Christian  Ethics,  and  Butler's  Christian  Theology  (Free  Baptist); 
also  Fisher,  Index. 

The  "Philadelphia  Confession  "  and  the  "  New  Hampshire  Confusion  " 
may  be  found  in  Schaff,  vol.  iii.;  in  McClintock  and  Strong;  and  tip  latter 
in  the  Baptist  Layman's  Book,  p.  60. 


8.  THE   MORAVIANS. 

THIS  is  his  commandment.  That  we  should  believe  on  the  name  of  his 
Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another ;  as  he  gave  us  commandment.  — 
1  JOHN  iii.  23. 

The  name  "Moravians'1  is  a  popular  one,  derived  from  the 
country  of  Moravia,  between  Austria  and  Bohemia,  from  which 
they  originated.  They  call  themselves  Unitas  Fratrum,  or 
"United  Brethren,"  but  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
Methodist  " United  Brethren  in  the  United  States." 


126  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

They  were  originally  a  party  among  the  followers  of  John  Hus 
(burned,  1415),  and  were  at  one  time  very  numerous,  but  were 
almost  exterminated  in  the  Catholic  reaction  at  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  present  church  took  its  rise,  in  1 735, 
from  a  few  families  of  their  descendants,  who  lived  on  the  estates 
of  Count  Zinzendorf  in  Saxony,  —  a  place  which  they  called 
Herrnhut,  or  ;t  The  Lord's  Protection."  Thence  they  spread 
through  Germany,  where  they  are  a  society  within  the  Lutheran 
Church,  into  England  and  the  United  States. 

They  have  no  formal  creed ;  but  the  doctrines  implied  in  their 
catechism  and  liturgy  are  Evangelical,  in  general  agreement  with 
the  Lutherans.  Their  peculiarity  lies  rather  in  their  very  warm 
and  sincere  religious  feeling,  which  so  impressed  John  Wesley 
that  he  was  converted  and  started  in  his  great  career  by  contact 
with  it,  and  their  extraordinary  zeal  for  missionary  work.  Their 
central  and  vitalizing  point  is  their  personal  devotion  to  a  per- 
sonal Christ.  Their  influence  has  everywhere  tended  to  cool 
controversy  and  quicken  genuine  religious  life. 

They  have  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons.  Their  bishops 
have  no  dioceses,  but  collectively  watch  over  the  welfare  of  the 
church,  ordaining  the  other  two  orders.  The  legislation  is  in  the 
hands  of  synods,  the  executive  power  in  a  board  of  bishops  and 
elders.  The  church  is  divided  into  three  provinces,  —  Conti- 
nental, English,  and  American,  —  each  caring  for  its  own  local 
affairs,  but  united  in  doctrine  and  missions.  They  have  a  wor- 
ship partly  liturgical,  partly  extemporaneous,  with  much  music. 
Their  hymns  breathe  a  tender  and  sweet  piety. 

For  their  warm  religious  feeling  and  aversion  to  mere  dogmatic 
controversy,  we  must  join  in  the  universal  praise  which  goes  out 
to  the  Moravians.  They  approach  us  doctrinally  also,  in  that 
they  were  the  spiritual  ancestors  of  the  Methodists,  who  broke  the 
sway  of  Calvinism  over  Protestants.  They  have  dropped  many  sin- 
gular practices,  —  as  foot- washing,  and  the  use  of  the  lot  in  choos- 
ing their  ministers,  and  in  marriage.  They  were  the  first  hearty 
pioneers  in  the  missionary  movement,  and  have  done  more  in  propor- 
tion to  their  numbers  than  any  other  body,  especially  in  Greenland, 
Labrador,  among  the  Esquimaux,  and  the  American  Indians. 


A   STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  127 

There  were  in  1882  in  all  10  bishops,  291  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons, and  18,871  communicants  (in  this  country,  1886,10,250); 
besides  26,455  communicants  in  home  and  foreign  missions. 

QUESTIONS. 

Whence  came  the  name  "  Moravians  "  ?  What  do  they  call  themselves  ? 
What  was  their  origin  ?  their  fate  at  first  ?  Whence  the  present  church  ? 
Where  do  they  live  ?  Have  they  a  creed?  Where  do  they  stand  doctri- 
nally  ?  What  is  their  peculiarity  ?  their  central  principle  ?  their  effect  on. 
controversies  ?  What  is  their  polity  V  their  worship  V  How  are  they 
related  to  us  doctrinally?  What  have  they  done  for  missions?  How 
numerous  are  they  ?  Can  you  think  of  any  Moravian  hymns  ?  Look 
them  up  in  the  hymn-book  of  your  church.  What  founder  of  a  great  sect 
was  influenced  by  them  ?  What  do  you  see  to  commend  in  them  ?  what  to 
censure  ? 

REFERENCES. 

Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  874-881;  Fisher,  Index,  Encyclopaedia  Britannica; 
McClintock  and  Strong,  The  Moravian  Manual ;  Holmes's  History  of  the 
United  Brethren,  2  vols.^  A.  C.  Thompson,  Moravian  Missions. 


9.   THE    METHODISTS. 

WHOSOEVER  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely.  —  REV.  xxii.  17. 

Name. — "Methodists"  is  a  nickname  given  to  John  Wesley 
and  his  Oxford  associates  by  another  student,  on  account  of  their 
regular  religious  habits.  It  was  originally  applied  to  an  ancient 
school  of  physicians,  In  England  the  followers  of  Wesley  are 
called  "  Wesley  an  Methodists;"  in  this  country,  "The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church." 

History.  —  The  Methodists  owe  their  existence  as  a  body  to 
a  great  organizer,  John  Wesley,  and  a  great  preacher,  George 
Whitefield.  But  as  Whitefield  became  a  Calvinist,  his  influence 
practically  ceased  at  his  death;  and  the  Methodism  of  to-day  is 
mainly  the  work  of  John  Wesley.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Christ- 


128  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.- 

church,  Oxford,  and  a  fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  becoming  a 
clergyman  in  1728.  His  tendencies  were  then  "High  Church." 
From  the  Moravians  he  adopted  those  doctrines  of  conversion, 
assurance,  and  perfection  which  became  the  substance  of  his 
preaching.  On  May  24,  1738,  he  himself  experienced  that  sud- 
den change  which  it  was  his  aim  henceforth  to  produce  in  others. 
It  was  then  that  modern  Methodism  was  born. 

The  early  Methodists  may  be  described  as  the  revival  party  in 
the  Church  of  England.     Nothing  was  further  from  their  purpose  • 
than  to  leave  that  church;  but  its  piety  was  at  a  very  low  ebb. 

The  fervent  preaching  of  Wesley  arid  Whitefield  was  met  with 
scorn  and  hostility.  Almost  every  pulpit  was  closed  to  them,  and 
they  were  often  mobbed  and  maltreated.  Whitefield  then  began 
preaching  in  the  open  air,  and  was  soon  followed  by  Wesley, 
though  with  great  reluctance.  Beginning  with  the  colliers  of 
Kingswood,  near  Bristol,  Whitefield  gathered  thousands  about 
him ;  and  the  new  views,  and  still  more  the  new  earnestness, 
spread  over  the  whole  kingdom.  Chapels  were  erected,  lay 
preachers  ordained;  and  Wesley's  marvellous  powers  of  organiza- 
tion consolidated  the  growing  body,  which  at  his  death  numbered 
nearly  eighty  thousand  members.  Charles  Wesley,  his  brother, 
the  hymn-writer  of  the  movement,  and  also  a  strong  preacher, 
composed  over  six  thousand  religious  poems. 

The  influence  of  Methodism  spread  far  beyond  its  own  adher- 
ents. The  English  Church  was  roused  to  a  religious  life  and  a 
philanthropic  zeal  which  have  never  since  left  her.  The  Evan- 
gelical movement  was  the  Methodist  wave  inside  the  Church;  and 
the  Ritualist  revival,  which  succeeded  the  Liberal  reaction  from 
this,  received  some  of.  its  life  from  the  same  source.  Attention  to 
the  poor,  both  in  religion  and  in  their  material  condition,  as  in 
factories  and  mines,  received  a  new  impetus ;  and  it  is  claimed 
that  the  quiet  growth  of  England  into  political  freedom,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  violent  revolutions  and  reactions  upon  the  Conti- 
nent, was  partly  due  to  the  gentler  spirit  which  the  Methodist 
movement  instilled  into  the  lower  classes. 

The  Methodists  are  by  far  the  largest  non-conformist  body  in 
England,  having  their  strength  chiefly  in  the  middle  and  lower 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  129 

classes.  Though  Wesley  himself  never  wished  them  to  leave  the 
Church  of  England,  and  died  in  its  communion,  his  followers 
have  been  obliged  to  organize  a  separate  body,  and  as  such  now 
exist,  though  with  kindly  feelings  toward  the  church  which  they 
have  been  the  last  large  sect  to  leave. 

The  first  Methodist  society  in  America  was  formed,  in  1766,  in 
New  York,  by  Irish  emigrants,  under  the  lead  of  Barbara  Heck. 
Appealed  to  for  aid,  Wesley,  in  1784,  ordained  two  "presbyters" 
and  a  "superintendent,"  the  Rev.  Thomas  Coke,  and  sent  them 
over.  Precisely  what  rank  Wesley  meant  Coke  to  represent  in 
the  English  Church  is  a  matter  of  dispute ;  but  he  was  virtually 
a  bishop.  He  ordained  Francis  Asbury,  and  the  two  were  the 
first  American  Methodist  bishops.  Asbury's  activity  and  success 
in  this  country  were  second  only  to  Wesley's  in  England,  and  he 
saw  his  sect  increase  from  fifteen  thousand  to  two  hundred  and 
eleven  thousand  in  1816. 

The  career  of  Methodism  in  this  country  is  almost  as  romantic 
as  it  has  been  successful.  As  a  pioneer  religion,  pushing  its  way 
westward,  and  following  closely  the  advancing  settlers,  it  recalls 
the  apostolic  days.  Already  in  1799  the  Methodists  had  adopted 
"  camp-meetings "  to  draw  together  the  scattered  and  churchless 
population  of  Tennessee  under  temporary  religious  influences. 
Their  preaching  was  of  the  most  glowing  description,  working 
powerfully  upon  crude  natures,  and  though  often  producing 
strange  nervous  disturbances,  making  wonderful  and  permanent 
changes  of  character.  More  than  any  other  religion  Methodism 
adapted  itself  to  the  needs  of  the  new  country,  and  deserved  to  be 
called  the  "American  religion."  It  has  also  had  great  influence 
over  the  negroes  of  the  South.  The  colored  Methodists  are  organ 
ized  into  the  "African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church"  (1816)  and 
the  "African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion's  Church;  "  and  in  1870, 
by  order  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  the  "  Colored 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America  "  was  created.  Slavery 
has  divided  the  main  church  also.  In  1843  the  "  Wesleyau 
Methodist  Church"  broke  away  on  this  question;  and  in  1846  the 
"  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  "  was  formed.  Other  seces- 
sions have  been  the  "Methodist  Protestant  Church"  (1830), 

9 


130  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

which  like  the  English  sect  has  no  bishops,  but  is  governed  by 
conferences;  "United  Brethren  in  Christ,"  or  German  Methodists 
(1800);  "Evangelical  Association,"  or  "Albrights"  (1800); 
"  Free  Methodist  Church  "  (1860),  differing  from  the  main  body 
only  on  minor  points  of  government  or  discipline. 

Government. —  The  Methodists,  like  the  Catholics,  Episcopa- 
lians, and  Presbyterians,  are  a  visible  Church,  not  merely  a  collec- 
tion of  churches,  like  the  Baptists  and  Congregationalists.  The 
separate  church  or  congregation  does  not  govern  itself,  but  Is 
governed  by  a  central  power,  the  General  Conference. 

In  England  the  Conference  is  the  legal  successor  to  the  almost 
absolute  power  of  John  Wesley,  which  was  transferred  by  him  in 
a  legal  instrument,  the  "  Deed  of  Declaration."  in  1 784.  The 
chapels  had  been  placed  in  his  possession,  and  were  now  given  to 
one  hundred  ministers  selected  by  him  as  the  Conference,  —  a 
close  corporation,  filling  its  own  vacancies.  In  their  hands  the 
power  remains.  There  are  no  bishops. 

In  the  United  States  power  is  centred  in  the  General  Con- 
ference, which  meets  once  in  four  years.  It  is  made  up  of  del- 
egates from  the  annual  conferences,  formerly  all  ministers,  but 
since  1872  including  two  laymen  from  each  conference.  It  elects 
the  bishops,  and  is  the  supreme  legislative  body,  under  certain 
limitations  as  to  the  fundamental  points  of  the  system.  The 
annual  conferences  are  made  up  of  the  itinerant  preachers  of  a 
certain  district,  and  have  mainly  to  do  with  their  affairs.  The 
region  of  the  annual  conference  is  divided  into  districts,  each  with 
its  presiding  elder  and  its  district  conference,  which  meets  once  or 
twice  a  year  as  directed,  and  is  made  up  of  the  preachers,  itiner- 
ant and  local,  in  the  district,  and  a  Sunday-school  superintendent 
and  class-leader  from  each  society,  with  other  officers.  This  con- 
. ference  licenses  the  local  preachers,  and  cares  for  the  general 
temporal  and  spiritual  affairs  of  the  district.  The  quarterly  con- 
ference is  made  up  of  the  officers  of  the  church,  or  of  the  several 
churches  constituting  a  circuit.  Besides  having  charge  of  the 
affairs  of  the  church,  or  churches,  it  pronounces  upon  the  fitness 
of  any  member  who  desires  to  preach.  In  each  society  there  are 
also  classes,  each  under  its  leader,  who  originally  had  strict  over- 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  131 

sight  upon  the  members,  visiting  them  once  a  week,  advising  them, 
and  collecting  their  contributions,  but  whose  duties  are  now  much 
less  rigorous. 

The  bishops  are  elected  by  the  General  Conference,  and  hold 
office  for  life.  Their  duty  is  strictly  administrative.  They  pre- 
side at  the  annual  conferences,  without  vote,  and  ordain  the 
preachers  and  assign  them  to  their  stations.  They  have  no  dio- 
ceses, as  the  Episcopal  and  Catholic  bishops,  but  change  juris- 
diction every  year  according  to  the  disposition  of  a  committee  of 
themselves,  —  each  having  residence,  however,  at  some  one  point. 

The  presiding  elders  constitute  the  council  of  the  bishop  who 
happens  to  have  jurisdiction  over  their  region,  advising  him  as  to 
the  character  and  ability  of  the  preachers  to  be  assigned.  They 
visit  and  preside  over  the  quarterly  conferences. 

The  preachers  are  of  two  kinds,  local  and  travelling.  The 
local  preachers  are  not  assigned  nor  supported,  having  other  avo- 
cations during  the  week,  but  officiate  as  needed.  The  travelling 
preachers  devote  all  their  time  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
are  supported  by  the  societies.  They  apply  to  the  quarterly  con- 
ference for  recommendation  to  the  annual  conference,  and  if 
recommended,  are  allowed  to  preach  on  trial  for  two  years,  pursu- 
ing certain  required  studies.  They  are  then  ordained  deacons, 
permitted  to  baptize  and  marry,  but  not  to  administer  the  com- 
munion. After  two  years  more  of  study  they  are,  if  they  pass 
their  examinations,  ordained  as  elders  or  preachers.  There  are 
also  exporters,  who  may  lead  prayer-meetings ;  stewards,  who  care 
for  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  society ;  and  a  new  order  of  dea- 
conesses, women  who  are  set  apart  for  works  of  mercy  and  charity 
in  the  cities. 

Doctrines, — The  official  standard  is  the  abridgment  of  the 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  Wesley  reduced  from 
thirty-nine  to  twenty-five.  Virtual  standards  are  also  Wesley's 
sermons  and  "  Notes  on  the  New  Testament "  and  Watson's 
"Institutes  of  Theology." 

The  characteristic  of  Methodist  theology  is  that  it  is  Arminian 
instead  of  Cah-hnstic,  The  Methodists  were  the  first  great  sect  to 
break  formally  from  the  doctrines  of  Calvin.  As  against  his  doc- 


132  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

trine  of  election,  it  proclaims  free  grace,  —  that  is,  the  offer  of 
salvation  to  all  men,  who  are  therefore  lost  only  through  their  own 
deliberate  refusal  of  it.  This  implies  that  the  atonement  of  Christ 
was  universal;  that  is,  not  intended  for  the  elect  alone,  but  for  all 
men.  Although  Methodism  admits  that  when  properly  educated 
a  soul  may  pass  gradually  into  a  state  of  salvation,  yet  it  looks 
commonly  to  a  sudden  experience,  —  conviction  of  sin,  faith  in 
Christ,  and  consciousness  of  regeneration.  When  this  process  is 
complete,  there  is  an  "  assurance,"  or  certainty  in  the  mind  of  the 
convert,  upon  which  Methodism  lays  great  stress.  It  further 
maintains  that  it  is  possible  in  this  life  to  attain  to  such  a  com- 
pleteness of  union  with  Christ  that  one  is  sinless  in  spirit,  though 
errors  of  judgment  and  involuntary  transgressions  are  still  pos- 
sible. This  is  the  doctrine  of  "perfection."  The  three  char- 
acteristic doctrines  of  Methodism  are  therefore  "  free  grace," 
"assurance,"  and  "perfection." 

In  other  points  it  is  at  one  with  Evangelical  Christendom.  It 
holds  to  the  universal  corruption  of  mankind  by  the  fall  of  Adam, 
total  depravity,  the  Trinity,  vicarious  atonement,  eternal  bliss  and 
torment,  and  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Bible. 

The  worship  of  Methodism  was  at  first  accordirig  to  the  English 
Liturgy ;  but  it  has  retained  this  only  (abridged)  in  the  sacra- 
ments of  baptism  and  communion,  and  in  the  ordination  service, 
and  then  only  in  an  abridged  form.  Baptism  is  by  sprinkling, 
though  choice  of  other  forms  is  allowed.  Prayer  is  extempore, 
and  it  is  but  rarely  that  manuscripts  are  used  in  preaching. 

Converts  are  not  admitted  into  this  church  until  they  have 
spent  six  months  of  "  probation  "  (in  England  three)  in  the  class- 
meeting.  "  Love  feasts"  were  once  held  in  connection  with  the 
quarterly  visit  of  the  presiding  elder,  at  which  "  experiences " 
were  related,  and  bread  and  water  taken  in  token  of  fellowship. 
Watch-meetings  are  often  held  on  the  last  night  of  the  year. 

Statistics.  —  There  were  in  1890  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  2,236,000  members;  15,500  travelling  and  13,500  local 
preachers,  under  16  bishops,  besides  2  missionary  bishops;  25,000 
Sunday-schools,  with  2,200,000  pupils.  The  value  of  the  church 
property  is  nearly  $100,000,000;  of  parsonages,  $13,000,000. 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  133 

The  current  expenses  were  $11,000,000;  and  $1,000,000  were 
o-iveri  for  missions,  besides  $200,000  from  the  Women's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society.  The  Methodist  Church  South  has  1,166,000 
members;  the  African,  410,000  ;  Zion,  412,000;  Colored,  170,000; 
Evangelical,  148,700;  the  Methodist  Protestant,  148,000,  — mak- 
ing with  the  smaller  bodies  a  total  of  over  4,980,000  members, 
exclusive  of  other  attendants  and  children.  The  total  Methodist 
constituency  in  the  United  States  is  claimed  at  10,000,000,  or  one 
in  every  six  of  the  population.  The  total  membership  in  the 
world  is  placed  at  between  5,000,000  and  6,000,000,  and  the  total 
number  of  adherents  at  25,000,000. 


The  Methodists  deserve  the  warmest  praise  for  their  love  of  the 
common  people  and  their  care  for  individuals.  Beginning  at  a 
time  when  religion  was  cold  and  formal,  and  even  as  such  confined 
mainly  to  the  upper  classes,  they  made  it  a  warm  and  living  real- 
ity, which  laid  hold  of  the  humblest  lives.  No  other  religious  body 
except  the  Catholics  has  so  carefully  searched  out  the  individual 
and  ministered  to  his  wants  as  the  early  Methodists  by  their  close 
organization.  Much  of  this  has  changed  with  the  loss  of  the  first 
enthusiasm  and  with  the  improved  circumstances  of  their  members. 
In  the  civilization  of  the  great  West  in  this  country  they  did 
service  which  cannot  be  forgotten. 

In  the  evolution  of  Liberal  Christianity  they  deserve  mention 
as  the  first  great  body  to  break  openly  away  from  the  Calvinism 
which  prevailed  at  least  nominally  in  Protestant  Christendom. 
In  denying  predestination  and  election,  they  asserted  the  power 
of  the  individual  will  to  control  its  own  destiny  to  some  extent, 
and  so  far  advanced  toward  belief  in  that  dignity  of  human 
nature  which  Channing  and  his  followers  fully  maintained.  The 
break  in  the  chain  of  Calvinistic  reasoning,  though  it  has  stopped 
here  in  Methodism  itself,  has  encouraged  Liberalism  generally; 
and  Unitarians  have  often  had  a  more  fraternal  connection  with 
Methodists  than  with  other  Evangelicals.  The  aid  given  by  Uni- 
tarians to  the  African  Methodists  of  the  South  was  bestowed  with 
;all  the  more  readiness  for  this  reason.  And  while  there  is  not 
much  resemblance  or  sympathy  between  the  emotional  worship  of 
the  Methodists  and  our  more  quiet  and  intellectual  ways,  yet  in 
the  vividness  of  the  Methodist's  religious  experiences,  in  public 
and  private,  we  find  something  akin  to  our  belief  that  the  Spirit 


134  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

of  God  is  active  in  the  soul  to-day  as  well  as  in  the  apostolic 
times. 

But  the  fact  that  in  their  revolt  from  Calvinism  the  Methodists 
stopped  with  the  denial  of  human  helplessness,  and  cling  yet  to 
the  Trinity,  the  deity  of  Christ,  a  vicarious  atonement,  a  future 
state  fixed  forever  at  death,  and  a  textual  use  of  Scripture,  keeps 
a  gulf  between  them  and  us  which  at  present  it  seems  impossible 
to  bridge. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  was  the  origin  of  the  name  "Methodist"?  Whence  came  its- 
present  use  ?  What  other  names  now  honored  have  been  given  in  derision  ? 
What  is  the  English  name  for  Methodists  ?  Who  were  their  founders  ? 
How  did  Whitefield  differ  from  Wesley  in  doctrine  ?  What  was  Wesley's 
first  tendency  ?  Whose  influence  changed  him  ?  What  was  the  relation  of 
the  first  Methodists  to  the  Church  of  England  ?  How  did  it  treat  them  ? 
What  has  been  the  result  ?  Who  was  Charles  Wesley  ?  What  was  the  effect 
of  Methodism  outside  its  own  ranks  ?  What  position  does  it  now  hold  in 
England  ?  Who  formed  the  first  Methodist  church  in  this  country  ?  Who 
were  the  first  Methodist  leaders?  Compare  the  independence  of  the  Metho- 
dists on  reaching  this  country  with  that  of  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts 
Ba}r.  Describe  the  career  of  Methodism  in  this  country.  What  was  the  use 
of  camp-meetings  ?  What  has  Methodism  done  in  the  South  ? 

What  is  the  church  government  of  the  Methodists  ?  What  is  the  govern- 
ing body  called  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  the  English  and  the 
American  Conferences  ?  .What  is  the  difference  as  to  the  use  of  bishops  ? 
What  is  the  district  conference?  the  quarterly?  What  are  "classes"? 
What  is  the  difference  between  a  Methodist  and  an  Episcopal  bishop  ?  What 
does  the  presiding  elder  do  ?  What  kinds  of  preachers  are  there  ? 

What  is  the  standard  of  doctrine  ?  What  is  the  characteristic  of  Metho- 
dist theology  ?  Wherein  does  it  differ  from  Calvinism  ?  What  is  the  differ- 
ence between  "free  grace"  and  "predestination"  ?  between  "  particular 
atonement"  and  "general  atonement"?  What  kind  of  conversion  do>' 
Methodists  favor  ?  What  is  "  assurance  "  ?  "  perfection  "  ?  How  is  wor- 
ship conducted  ?  What  is  "  probation  "  ?  What  position  does  Methodism 
hold  among  the  sects  in  this  country  as  to  numbers  ? 

For  what  two  things  especially  do  Methodists  deserve  praise  ?  Compare 
them  with  the  Catholics.  What  have  they  done  for  our  West?  What 
relation  do  they  bear  to  Liberal  Christianity  ?  What  do  we  find  in  their 
religious  temperament  akin  to  our  views  ?  On  what  points  do  we  differ 
from  them?  How  serious  is  this  difference  ?  What  is  your  general  impres- 
sion of  Methodism  ?  Compare  it  with  the  other  Protestant  bodies  which  we 
have  considered.  What  can  you  praise  ?  What  must  you  reject  ?  What 
hymns  of  Charles  Wesley  do  you  know  ? 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  135 


REFERENCES. 

The  best  history  of  Methodism  is  that  of  Dr.  Abel  Stevens,  in  seven 
volumes,  three  of  general  history,  four  of  American;  but  a  good  resume 
is  James  Porter's  History  of  Methodism,  in  one  volume.  See  also  the  most 
admirable  ninth  chapter  in  Lecky's  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  vol.  ii.;  Lives  of  John  Wesley,  by  Southey  and  by  L.  Tyerman, 
3  vols. ;  John  Wesley  and  the  Evangelical  Reaction  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, by  Julia  Wedgwood;  Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  882-904;  Life  of  George 
Whitefitld,  by  L.  Tyerman.  McClintock  and  Strong  is  very  full  on  all 
points.  History,  doctrine,  and  government  are  summed  up  in  James  Porter's 
Compend  of  Methodism ;  Fisher,  pp.  515-523,  and  Index. 

For  belief  and  usages,  see  the  official  Doctrines  and  Discipline  of  the 
Methodist  Church.  John  Wesley's  sermons  and  Notes  on  the  Neiv  Testa- 
ment and  Richard  Watson's  Theological  Institutes  are  virtual  though  not 
official  standards.  See  also  Bishop  Foster's  Studies  in  Theology.  The 
statistics  are  given  in  the  official  Minutes  of  the  Annual  Conferences. 


10.  THE   SALVATION   ARMY. 
A  GOOD  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  —  2  TIM.  ii.  3. 

THE  original  name  was  "The  Christian  Mission."  But  Mr. 
Booth,  in  correcting  a  proof  in  which  the  workers  were  described 
as  "a  volunteer  army,"  said,  "  No,  we  are  not  volunteers,  for  we 
feel  that  we  must  do  what  we  do,  and  we  are  always  on  duty." 
He  substituted  the  word  "  salvation."  The  title  spread,  and  was 
formally  adopted  in  1878.  The  title  "General  "  was  originally 
an  abbreviation  of  "  General  Superintendent  of  the  Christian 
Mission."  The  military  idea  was  thus  a  growth. 

The  Salvation  Army  is  the  development  of  a  mission  undertaken 
in  the  East  End  of  London  in  1875  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Booth.  Its 
aim  was  to  reach  the  lowest  classes  of  the  population  there  reli- 
giously and  morally,  in  this  adopting  the  general  methods  of 
"  revivalists,"  but  with  the  addition  of  caring  also  for  bodily 
needs  where  that  was  possible.  Since  the  "army"  idea  was 
adopted,  it  has  been  carried  out  in  great  detail  in  organization, 
discipline,  titles,  and  phraseology.  Its  doctrinal  standard  is  the 


136  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

"  Articles  of  War,"  which  each  recruit  signs,  and  which  contain 
moderately  Evangelical  doctrines,  probably  closely  resembling  the 
"  free  grace :J  of  the  Methodists.  It  allows  women  to  be  preach- 
ers, and  they  are  everywhere  prominent  among  the  workers.  The 
spirit  of  the  movement,  though  suffering  sometimes  in  the  hands 
of  incompetent  and  ignorant  people,  has  been  admirable,  thor- 
oughly Christian  in  the  best  sense,  and  recalling  some  of  the  most 
effective  periods  in  Christian  history,  —  as  those  of  the  Franciscan 
monks  or  of  early  Methodism.  Though  it  seems  sometimes  gro- 
tesque to  more  cultivated  observers,  its  effect  upon  the  lower 
classes  has  been  often  wonderful. 

Its  growth  has  been  very  rapid.  It  numbers  to-day  2,864 
"corps,"  in  32  different  countries,  9,349  officers  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  the  work,  13,000  non-commissioned  or  volunteer  officers, 
7,000  musicians,  and  over  1,000,000  privates.  It  has  a  revenue 
of  about  $3,750,000  a  year,  and  invested  property  of  about 
$3,000,000.  It  has  32  periodicals  (in  12  languages),  24  Homes 
of  .Rest,  30  Training  Garrisons  (for  its  preachers),  30  Rescue 
Homes  for  Fallen  Women,  etc. 

Its  history  and  hopes  are  given  in  a  most  interesting  book  by 
General  Booth,  In  Darkest  England  and  the  Way  Out,  of  which 
a  digest  with  numerous  photographs  is  given  in  the  "Review 
of  Reviews,"  for  October,  1890;  and  in  Beneath  Two  Flags,  by 
Mrs.  Maud  B.  Booth. 


A   STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  137 

SECTION  II. 
CERTAIN  OTHER  PROTESTANT   SECTS. 

1.  THE   ANTI-SECTARIAN   SECTS. 

MASTER,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name,  and  we  forbade  him, 
because  he  followeth  not  with  us  But  Jesus  said,  Forbid  him  not,  for  he 
that  is  not  against  us  is  on  our  part.  — MAKK  ix.  38-40. 

I.  The  Christians.  —  The  popular  name  is  "  The  Christian 
Connection."  The  name  *4  Christian"  is  meant  to  imply  that  the 
body  returns  to  the  primitive  condition  of  Christianity  before  it 
was  corrupted  by  creeds  or  by  any  false  doctrine. 

The  sect  exists  only  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
arose  from  the  union  of  three  distinct  movements:  (1)  A  seces- 
sion from  the  Methodists,  in  1793,  in  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina, led  by  the  Rev.  James  O'Kelly,  who  had  opposed  in  vain 
the  power  of  the  bishops  over  the  assignment  of  ministers  to 
churches.  They  were  at  first  called  "  Republican  Methodists." 

(2)  A  secession  from  the  Baptists,  in  1800,  led  by  Dr.   Abner 
Jones,  of  Hartland,  Vermont,  who  was  joined  by  many  from  Free- 
will Baptist  Churches.    They  wished  a  non-sectarian  Biblical  basis. 

(3)  A  secession  from  the  Presbyterians  of  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee, in  1801,  of  people  who  during  a  great  revival  had  fallen 
away  from  Calvinism,  and  embraced  the  doctrine  of  u  free  grace." 
They  took  the  name  of  "  Christians  "  in  1803,  whence  the  name 
passed  over  to  the  united  body. 

The  "  Christians  "  believe  the  Bible  to  be  divinely  inspired  and 
the  supreme  authority  in  matters  of  religion.  Every  man  must 
read  it  for  himself ;  and  no  creed  or  council  can  condemn  him  for 
doctrines  which  he  honestly  draws  from  it,  nor  should  any  church 
withdraw  its  fellowship  from  him  for  doctrinal  reasons.  They  hold 
an  Arian  view  of  Christ,  — that  is,  that  he  is  a  divine  being,  pre- 
existed, and  is  a  mediator  between  God  and  man;  but  he  is  not 
rod,  and  there  is  no  Trinity,  His  atoning  sufferings  suffice  for 
all  men,  who  if  they  repent  and  have  faith  may  be  saved.  They 


138  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

immerse  in  baptism,  denying  that  rite  to  infants,  but  hold  "  open 
communion." 

Their  government  is  congregational,  the  various  churches 
sending  delegates  to  State  conferences,  and  they  to  the  General 
Conference.  These  are  bodies  of  consultation,  not  of  authority. 

The  increase  of  the  Christians  reached  its  climax  in  1844,  when 
there  were  nearly  325,000;  but  in  1888  they  had  declined  to 
142,000,  with  1,755  churches  and  1,344  ministers.  The  causes  of 
this  have  been  the  "  Millerite  "  or  "  Adventist  "  excitement  about 
that  time,  the  secession  of  many  to  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  and 
the  growing  liberality  of  the  older  bodies. 

See  History  of  the  Christians,  by  N.  Summerbell;  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica  Supplement,  vol.  ii. ;  Dorchester's  Christianity  in  the 
United  States,  pp.  315-317. 

II.  Disciples  of  Christ.  —  Popular  names  for  this  sect  are 
"  Campbellites  "  and  "  Campbellite  Baptists. "  The  members 
prefer  to  be  called  "Disciples  of  Christ"  or  "  Christians.1' 

The  sect  was  founded,  in  1812,  by  an  Irish  Presbyterian,  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1807.  His  purpose 
was  to  draw  Christians  together  out  of  all  party  names,  creeds, 
and  organizations.  The  Disciples  have  no  creed,  but  are  Evan- 
gelical in  belief.  They  steadfastly  decline  to  explain  such  points 
as  the  Trinity  or  the  atonement,  holding  them  as  revealed  facts 
above  the  reach  of  the  human  intellect,  and  give  baptism  only  by 
immersion.  They  are  congregational  in  government,  with  the 
usual  district,  State,  and  national  associations. 

In  1888  they  had  645,771  members  (mostly  in  the  West),  6,859 
churches,  and  3,388  ministers  besides  some  foreign  missionaries. 
They  are  increasing  in  number  very  fast.  They  are  enthusiastic 
in  Sunday-school  work,  and  have  paid  attention  to  education, 
having  5  universities,  20  colleges,  and  8  academies,  and  31 
periodicals  of  all  kinds. 

See  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Supplement,  vol.  ii. ;  The  Origin 
flfthe  Disciples  of  Christ  ^lay  G.  W.  Longan;  Memoirs  of  Alexan- 
der Campbell;  The  Christian  System,  by  Alexander  Campbell; 
Dorchester,  p.  485. 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  139 

111.  The  Christian  Union,  or  The  Church  of  Christ  in 
Christian  Union,  was  organized  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1863.  Its 
platform  is  "  The  oneness  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  Christ  the 
only  head,  the  Bible  our  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  4  good 
fruits'  the  only  condition  of  fellowship,  Christian  union  without 
controversy,  each  local  church  governs  itself,  political  preaching- 
discountenanced."  The  reason  for  the  movement  was  that  men's 
"  hearts  were  wearied  with  the  cruel  intolerance  and  divisions  of 
the  sects."  This  body  is  Evangelical  in  doctrine,  congregational 
in  government,  having  local  councils  and  a  quadrennial  general 
council,  and  practises  both  kinds  of  baptism. 

It  numbered  in  1889  150,000  members,  with  1,500  churches  and 
1,200  ministers,  mainly  in  the  West,  and  is  rapidly  increasing. 

See  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Supplement,  vol.  ii. ;  Dorchestery 
pp.  677,  783.  

Liberal  Christians  must  sympathize  with  all  these  bodies  in 
their  protest  against  the  narrow  and  trivial  sectarianism  which 
divides  Christendom.  It  seems  a  pity,  however,  that  they  should 
have  found  it  necessary  to  organize  new  sects.  Between  Unita- 
rians and  "  Christians"  there  is  practically  little  difference  except 
in  the  mode  of  baptism,  which  ought  not  to  be  considered  an  essen- 
tial matter;  while  between  the  "  Disciples  "  and  the  "  Christian 
Union  "  there  seems  to  be  no  valid  ground  for  continued  separa- 
tion. The  three  bodies  together  make  a  reinforcement  to  the  Uni- 
tarian protest  against  creeds  of  nearly  a  million  church  members, 
besides  those  otherwise  connected  with  these  churches. 

QUESTIONS. 

Who  are  the  "Christians"?  What  is  the  name  commonly  given  to 
them  ?  Where  does  it  exist  ?  How  was  the  sect  formed  ?  What  is  its 
belief  about  the  source  of  authority  in  religion?  about  Christ?  Are  they 
rnitarian?  Are  they  Arminian  or  Calvinist  as  to  the  atonement?  Are 
they  increasing?  Why? 

What  are  the  common  names  for  the  "  Disciples  of  Christ  "  ?  Who  was 
their  founder  ?  What  was  his  aim  ?  What  is  the  tenor  of  their  doctrines  ? 
How  do  they  baptize  ?  What  is  their  polity  ?  Are  they  numerous  ? 
growing  ? 

What  is  the  Christian  Union  ?  What  are  its  principles?  Is  it  Liberal 
or  Evangelical  ? 

How  far  can  Unitarians  sympathize  with  any  of  these  bodies  V 


140  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 


2.  THE   FRIENDS. 

WHEN  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth. 
JOHN  xvi.  13. 

Name.  —  The  full  name  of  this  sect  is  "  The  Religious  Society 
of  Friends."  The  name  by  which  they  are  commonly  known, 
"  Quakers,"  is  never  used  by  themselves.  It  was  given  to  them  in 
mockery  by  one  Justice  Bennett,  of  Derby,  England,  because 
George  Fox  "  bid  them  [the  judges]  tremble  at  the  word  of  the 
Lord." 

History.  —  The  founder  and  organizer  of  the  Friends  was 
George  Fox  (1624-1690),  the  son  of  a  weaver  in  Drayton,  Leices- 
tershire, England.  He  was  poorly  educated,  and  early  appren- 
ticed to  a  shoemaker,  but  was  always  "religious,  inward,  still, 
solid,  and  observing  beyond  his  years."  Brooding  much  in  that 
time  of  religious  excitement  and  discussion  over  the  matters  in 
dispute,  he  felt  within  him  the  stirrings  and  revelations  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  began  in  1647  to  go  about  England  as  a  way- 
side preacher  of  the  gospel  of  the  "  inner  light "  as  superior, 
though  not  necessarily  opposed,  to  the  authority  of  Church  and 
Bible.  Insisting  on  speaking  in  the  churches  during  the  services, 
he  was  repeatedly  thrown  into  prison.  But  he  and  his  fellow- 
preachers  had  wonderful  success,  drawing  immense  crowds  after 
them,  and  making  many  converts.  Hearers  fell  into  convulsions 
and  sometimes  into  insanity.  The  preachers  themselves  were 
often  eccentric,  sometimes  beyond  the  bounds  of  decency.  Natu- 
rally, they  roused  the  bitter  hostility  of  all  the  sects  of  the  day, 
and  were  frequently  mobbed  and  in  danger  of  their  lives.  The 
language  on  both  sides  was  warm,  and  even  coarse.  The  Quaker 
was  a  very  different  being  from  what  he  has  since  become.  He 
was  filled  with  a  fierce  desire  to  convert  others.  He  went  to  the 
United  States,  West  Indies,  Jerusalem,  Malta;  and  Mary  Fisher 
—  for  women  also  became  preachers  —  visited  Smyrna  and  Greece, 
and  even  sought  audience  of  the  Sultan.  Fox  did  not  favor  the 
formation  of  a  separate  sect,  being  sure  that  his  doctrine  would 
conquer  the  Church  itself;  but  the  believers  naturally  drew 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  141 

together  into  organizations  of  their  own,  which  In  1666  were  made 
formal,  and  a  discipline  was  established  for  the  regulation  of  the 
lives  of  members. 

Toleration  by  the  English  government  was  proclaimed  in  1689  ; 
and  Fox  dying  in  1690,  the  Friends  changed  their  character  very 
essentially.  Uhey  had  suffered  during  the  age  of  persecution 
more  than  any  other  body,  fourteen  thousand  having  been  impris- 
oned, one  hundred  and  fifty  transported,  and  over  three  hundred 
having  died  from  ill-treatment  or  direct  martyrdom.  $ow  the 
body,  like  most  of  the  others,  lapsed  into  quietness  and  almost 
indolence.  It  became  known  more  for  its  peculiarities  of  dress 
and  manners  than  for  its  doctrines,  ceased  to  convert  or  contro- 
vert, became  a  consciously  " peculiar  people,"  drew  away  from 
the  rest  of  the  Christian  world,  sought  by  strict  regulations 
to  keep  its  members  jealously  together,  and  grew  wealthy  and 
respectable.  Its  numbers  rapidly  declined.  In  1700  there  were 
probably  one  hundred  thousand  in  the  United  Kingdom,  in  1800 
only  twenty  thousand,  and  to-day  there  are  probably  not  over 
fifteen  thousand. 

To  the  United  States  they  came  early,  two  women  landing  in 
Boston  in  1656.  Their  coming  was  much  dreaded;  and  after 
imprisonment  for  five  weeks  they  were  sent  away  to  Barbadoes. 
The  most  stringent  laws  were  passed  against  Quakers  coming 
to  the  colony,  and  against  any  one  harboring  or  aiding  them; 
but  only  the  more  were  they  moved  to  come  and  "bear  testi- 
mony.*' They  interrupted  the  Puritan  services,  doing  strange 
and  disturbing  things  ufor  a  sign,"  and  returned  when  banished. 
The  excitement  against  them  was  great ;  and  at  Jast  the  authori- 
ties, driven  beyond  patience,  hung  four  of  them,  Mary  Dyer  being 
one,  on  Boston  Common.  Public  opinion  and  the  order  of  the 
king  condemned  this,  however,  though  the  struggle  against  them 
only  gradually  ceased.  In  1678  they  settled  New  Jersey  under 
Fenwick,  and  in  1682  Pennsylvania  under  William  Penn;  and 
for  many  years  the  immigration  was  very  large.  The  decrease  in 
England  was  nearly  balanced  by  the  increase  in  this  country. 
There  is  a  small  annual  growth  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  but 
not  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  the  population. 


142  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

In  the  middle  of  the  last  century  a  stern  attempt  was  made  to 
restore  strictness  of  discipline  in  the  society ;  and  it  is  estimated 
that  nearly  one  third  of  its  number  was  lost,  as  a  result  chiefly  of 
the  excommunication  for  marriage  with  the  ''world's  people." 
Doctrinal  discussions  also  rent  the  body.  Elias  Hicks,  a  preacher 
of  Long  Island,  was  accused  of  Unitarianism  and  of  too  free  treat- 
ment of  the  Bible;  and  a  division  took  place.  He  was  followed, 
an  1827,  by  about  one  third  of  the  American  Friends,  chiefly  in 
Pennsylvania,  ISTew  York,  Ohio,  and  Maryland.  Largely  by  the 
influence  of  the  Gurney  family,  which  included  Elizabeth  Fry, 
the  majority  of  the  Society  in  both  countries  reacted  into  Evan- 
gelical doctrines,  and  were  assimilated  to  the  popular  Christianity. 
But  John  Wilbur,  a  Rhode  Island  Friend,  opposed  this  movement, 
and  led  a  return  to  faith  in  the  "  inner  light,"  as  well  as  to  other 
-doctrines  of  Fox  and  his  contemporaries.  The  majority,  how- 
ever, remained  "  orthodox  "  or  "  Gurneyite,"  the  Wilburites  now 
hardly  existing  as  an  organized  body. 

Doctrines.  —  The  characteristic  doctrine  of  the  Friends  is  the 
reliance  upon  the  "  Spirit"  as  a  present  voice  and  light  in  every 
man's  own  soul.  Reverencing  the  Bible  as  true  and  inspired, 
they  maintain  that  the  same  Holy  Spirit  which  spoke  to  the  men 
of  old  speaks  to-day,  and  that  every  man  should  listen  for  it  and 
be  guided  by  it.  In  this  belief  they  once  stood  opposed  both  to 
those  who  hold  to  the  Church  and  to  those  who  hold  to  the  Bible 
as  authority.  In  all  matters  of  life,  as  well  as  in  doctrine,  they 
waited  for  this  "inner  light;"  and  when  it  came,  or  seemed  to 
them  to  come,  they  were  fearless  to  the  extreme. 

From  this  main  doctrine  it  follows  — 

1.  That  a  specially  educated  ministry  is  not  deemed  essential. 
Men  and  women  should  speak  from  divine  impulse,  and  not  from 
any  human  ordination,  and  should  say  what  God  gave  them  to  say, 
not  what  human  education  taught  them.  If  any  one  feels  con- 
strained to  devote  himself  to  preaching,  and  his  brethren  think 
that  he  is  justified  in  it,  he  may  do  so;  but  there  must  be  no 
preparation,  either  in  general  or  for  special  occasions.  The  only 
ordination  is  a  minute  of  approval  by  the  Meeting  to  which  he 
belongs,  which  constitutes  him  a  minister.  Speech  is  always  ex- 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  143 

temporaneous.     The  preachers  are  not  "  settled,"  but  often  travel 
from  place  to  place. 

2.  Though  the  Friends  assemble  at  stated  times  for  worship, 
no  "order  of  service"  is  allowed.      The  Bible  is  not  read,  nor 
is  any  prayer  or  address  necessarily  made ;   and  there  is  never, 
except  as  a  modern  innovation,  singing  or  music  of  any  kind.    No 
one  speaks  unless  "  moved  by  the  Spirit ; "  arid  when  so  moved, 
any  one  may  speak. 

3.  There  are  no  religious  ceremonies.     There  is  no  baptism  or 
communion,  the  Friend  holding  that  the  rites  of  old  were  but 
shadows  of   spiritual  acts;   and  he  denies  that  Jesus  meant  to 
institute  or  perpetuate  them.     The  marriage  of  Friends  is  a  simple 
agreement  before  the  Meeting  that  the  two  will  live  as  husband 
and  wife,  and  the  signature  of  a  certificate  by  them   and   by  the 
•<jlerk  of   the  Meeting.      At  a  funeral  the  friends  assemble,  and 
after  a  period  of  silence  at  the  house,  unless  some  one  is  moved  to 
speak,  bear  the  body  to  the  grave,  where  also  sometimes  "testi- 
monies are  borne  "  by  ministers  to  the  character  of  the  dead.     In 
neither  marriage   nor  funeral   has   the  minister  necessarily  any 
part. 

In  other  respects  the  doctrines  of  most  Friends  at  present  are 
those  of  moderate  Evangelical  Christians. 

Organization.  —  The  organization  of  the  Society  was  originally 
very  close.  The  local  society  is  organized  as  a  "Preparative 
Meeting/'  It  has  "  overseers  of  the  Meeting,"  of  both  sexes, 
who  watch  over  the  lives  of  members  ;  "  overseers  of  the  poor  ;  " 
and  "elders,"  who  care  for  worship  and  ministry.  Several  Pre- 
parative Meetings  unite  into  a  "Monthly  Meeting,"  which  is  the 
executive  body,  several  of  these  into  a  "  Quarterly  Meeting,"  and 
several  of  these  again  into  a  "  Yearly  Meeting,"  which  legislates 
for  a  certain  district.  There  is  right  of  appeal  upward  to  this 
body.  Over  the  Yearly  Meetings  there  is  no  authority,  though 
great  deference  is  paid  to  the  London  Meeting,  as  the  oldest. 
The  children  of  members  are  themselves  members  by  birthright. 
Any  one  who  wishes  to  become  a  member  makes  request  to  the 
Meeting,  on  which  a  committee  is  appointed  to  investigate  the 
<;ase,  and  report. 


144  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

The  "  discipline "  of  the  Society  was  originally  very  severe. 
The  private  life  of  every  member  was  subject  to  extraordinary 
scrutiny.  All  luxury  or  extravagance  in  living,  amusements, 
even  music,  undue  attention  to  dress,  —  especially  in  colors  and 
unnecessary  parts,  jewelry,  buttons,  etc., — and  too  great  absorp- 
tion in  business,  were  strictly  repressed.  Members  were  forbidden 
to  go  to  law,  but  must  bring  their  grievances  before  the  Meeting. 
They  were  forbidden  to  marry  outside  of  the  Society  on  pain  of 
being  disowned.  When  two  members  intended  to  marry,  they 
appeared  before  the  Monthly  Meeting,  with  the  consent  of  their 
parents ;  a  committee  of  men  and  one  of  women  investigated  the 
matter  on  either  side  to  see  that  they  were  clear  of  all  other 
engagements,  and  that  the  rights  of  children,  if  it  were  a  second 
marriage,  were  duly  cared  for ;  and  if  allowed,  the  marriage  took 
place  as  already  described.  All  military  service  was  forbidden. 
Xo  oaths  could  be  taken.  No  titles  were  assumed  or  given,  not 
even  "Mr."  and  "Mrs. ;"  no  unmeaning  salutations,  as  "good- 
morning,"  exchanged.  The  hat  was  not  removed  in  deference  to 
any  one,  even  in  Meeting,  except  in  prayer,  when  all  rose  and 
uncovered  their  heads ;  nor  was  there  any  bowing.  The  primi- 
tive form  of  address,  as  " thee "  and  "thou,"  was  retained;  and 
the  months  and  days  of  the  week  were  designated  by  numbers,  as 
in  Scripture,  not  by  the  common  names,  which  are  of  pagan 
origin.  Tombstones  above  a  certain  small  size  were  prohibited. 
Many  of  these  characteristics,  however,  including  the  peculiar 
dress,  are  simply  the  remains  of  former  customs  or  fashions,  the 
ornamental  being  left  off.  They  were  not  invented. 

The  Friends  have  always  been  noted  for  their  philanthropy. 
They  were  the  first  to  advocate  the  abolition  of  slavery.  In  1761 
all  members  were  cut  off  who  were  engaged  in  the  slave  trade, 
and  by  1 784  not  a  Friend  in  America  owned  a  slave.  The  mod- 
ern treatment  of  the  insane  was  first  adopted  in  England  by  them. 
They  have  always  protested  against  war.  Their  treaties  with  the 
Indians  were  never  violated,  and  they  have  cared  greatly  for  the 
remainder  of  the  race.  Elizabeth  Fry  was  one  of  the  first  workers 
in  prison  reform.  The  first  women  preachers,  and  indeed  the 
first  recognition  of  the  equality  of  women  in  religious  services, 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  145 

were  among  the  Friends.  They  have  also  some  foreign  missions. 
They  have  always  taken  generous  care  of  their  own  poor,  educat- 
ing their  children,  and  assisted  each  other  in  business. 

Statistics.  —  There  are  in  all  about  128,000  Friends,  of  whom 
108,000  are  in  the  United  States.  Of  these  78,000  are  "Ortho- 
dox "  (under  12  Yearly  Meetings,  the  largest  in  Indiana),  24,500 
are  "Hicksite,"  and  6,000  are  in  smaller  bodies.  They  have  7 
colleges,  besides  academies,  and  5  periodicals  in  this  country. 
Many  Meetings  have  also  "First-Day  schools." 


The  Friends  were  the  first  Liberal  sect  in  the  Reformation,  and 
their  rise  was  as  remarkable  as  it  was  picturesque.  They  stood 
entirely  apart  from  all  other  Christian  bodies,  reiving  on  the 
Spirit  as  authority,  in  distinction  from  Church  and  Bible.  They 
represent,  therefore,  the  extreme  of  the  Pauline  or  spiritual  ten- 
dency. There  is  something  magnificent  in  their  complete  trust  in 
the  inner  voice  and  their  sturdy  refusal  to  allow  anything  to 
interfere  with  its  being  heard  and  obeyed. 

But  the  almost  entire  abandonment  of  this  original  position, 
even  by  those  who  hold  to  the  original  name,  who  even  brand  it 
with  the  stigma  of  heresy,  shows  that  it  was  premature.  Jt  was 
too  high  and  ideal  a  faith  for  the  mass  of  men  to  live  up  to. 
They  cannot  distinguish  between  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  and  mere 
transient  or  selfish  impulses.  The  temptation  to  set  these  even 
above  the  true  "inner  light"  is  very  strong,  and  has  led  to  many 
ludicrous,  as  well  as  serious,  results  in  practice.  There  is  something 
ironical  also  in  the  way  in  which  the  ideas  of  the  Friends,  when 
carried  out,  turned  back  against  themselves.  Starting  from  com- 
plete individualism,  each  man  looking  within  himself  for  guidance, 
they  arrived  at  one  of  the  mo>t  despotic  and  repressive  codes  of 
"discipline  "  which  any  religious  or  even  civil  society  has  ever 
adopted,  and  became  the  most  persistent  and  even  annoying 
proselyters  of  their  d  ly.  In  the  name  of  pure  spiritual  religion 
they  laid  an  emphasis  on  external  things  —  as  dress,  speech,  titles 
—  which  finally  made  them  almost  as  ritualistic  as  their  first  oppo- 
nents, and  which  became  the  chief  peculiarity  by  which  the  world 
designated  them.  Protesting  against  fashion  and  etiquette,  they 
fell  into  a  fashion  and  etiquette  of  their  own  quite  as  strict  as  any 
which  "  the  world's  people "  followed ;  and  in  their  hostility  to 
useless  expense  and  luxury,  they  came  not  seldom  to  be  known  as 
lovers  of  money.  That  after  all  this  the  majority  of  the  Society 
should  turn  about  and  renounce  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  "  inner 

10 


146  A   STUDY   OP   THE    SECTS. 

light,"  and  assimilate  themselves  to  the  dogmatic  and  Scriptural 
portion  which  Fox  and  Perm  denounced,  ia  surely  a  most  striking 
phenomenon  in  religious  history. 

The  criticism  upon  the  Friends  is  that  they  overlooked  on  the 
one  hand  the  "solidarity"  of  mankind,  and  on  the  other  the 
revelations  that  come  from  the  outer  world.  Other  men  beside 
themselves  had  lt  inner  light,"  and  it  is  by  comparison  and  mutual 
clarifying  that  truth  becomes  known ;  and  the  world  of  Nature, 
as  well  as  the  world  of  the  soul,  has  light  to  give.  Nevertheless, 
the  main  point  of  the  Friend,  that  the  final  court  of  appeal  for 
every  man  in  his  questions  of  faith  and  duty  must  lie  in  his  own 
conscience,  heart,  and  reason,  remains  unassailable.  It  is  the 
ground  to  which  Liberal  Christianity  is  rapidly  transferring  itself ; 
and  the  Friends  must  be  considered  the  pioneers  and  protoinartyrs 
of  modern  spiritual  religion. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  the  origin  of  the  name  "  Quakers"?  What  is  the  name  they 
give  themselves  ?  Who  was  their  founder  ?  Relate  what  you  recall  of  his 
life.  What  kind  of  men  and  women  were  his  first  disciples  ?  How  were 
they  treated  ?  What  reaction  took  place  ?  What  can  you  say  of  their 
growth  ?  How  did  they  begin  in  this  country  ?  How  were  they  treated  ? 
What  other  States  did  they  enter  ?  What  do  you  know  of  the  beginning 
of  Pennsylvania  ?  What  reformation  was  attempted  among  the  Friends  ? 
What  divisions  arose?  What  parlies  now  exist  among  them? 

What  is  their  characteristic  doctrine?  How  does  it  differ  from  that  of 
other  sects  we  have  noticed  ?  How  does  it  compare  with  our  own  ?  What 
is  their  practice  with  regard  to  the  ministry  ?  to  worship  ?  to  religious  cere- 
monies ?  to  marriage  and  burial  ?  How  are  they  organized  ?  What  is  a 
" Preparative  Meeting"  ?  a  "Monthly  Meeting"  ?  a  "Quarterly  Meet- 
ing"? Does  this  series  of  bodies  resemble  that  of  any  other  sect  we  have 
considered?  How  does  it  consist  with  the  theory  of  the  "inner  light"? 
How  did  they  treat  private  life  ?  dress  ?  disputes  ?  marriage  V  titles  ?  lan- 
guage ?  How  far  were  any  of  these  inconsistent  with  the  main  doctrine  ? 
What  can  you  say  of  their  philanthropy  ?  What  did  they  do  for  slavery  ? 
for  the  insane  ?  for  peace  ?  for  the  Indians  ?  for  woman  ? 

Where  do  the  Friends  stand  in  the  classification  of  the  sects?  What 
strange  transformations  have  they  undergone  ?  What  is  the  danger  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  inner  light?  Is  it  any  more  dangerous  than  following 
authority  ?  Has  reliance  upon  an  infallible  Church  or  Bible  secured  freedom 
from  error  ?  What  criticism  can  you  make  upon  the  main  point  ?  What 
relation  has  it  to  ours?  What  impression  have  the  Friends  made  upon  you?" 
Do  you  think  their  main  doctrine  likely  to  gain  or  lose  power  ? 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  147 


REFERENCES. 

The  best  (and  official)  manual  is  A  Concise  Account  of  the  Religious 
Society  of  Friends,  Thomas  Evans,  Philadelphia;  admirable  summaries  in 
McCliutock  and  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  An  excellent  history  and 
criticism  by  a  friendly  outsider  is  Frederick  Storrs  Turner's  The  Quakers. 
The  standaid  history  of  the  early  movement  is  William  Se well's  ///^o?-#  of 
the  Rise,  Increase,  and  Progress  of  the  Christian  People  called  Quakers. 
The  standards  of  doctrine  are  Robert  Barclay's  An  Apology  for  the  True 
Christian  Divinity,  etc.;  the  writings  of  William  Penn  —  for  example,  No 
Cross,  no  Crown  —  and  of  Isaac  Pcnnington.  The  usages  are  given  in  The 
Book  of  Discipline.  But  the  spirit  of  the  Friends  must  be  sought  in  the 
Journal  of  George  Fox,  the  Life  of  Thomas  Ellwood,  John  Woolmari's 
Journal,  and  to  some  degree  in  the  biographies  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  Lucretia 
Mott,  Isaac  T.  Hopper,  and  others.  See  also  many  of  VVhittier's  poems. 
The  Evangelical  movement  within  the  body  is  advocated  in  the  works  of 
John  Joseph  Gurney,  and  the  Hicksile  movement  in  Janney's  History, 
vol.  iv.,  and  Journal  of  KHas  flicks.  See  also  Fisher,  Index,  *•  Quakers;" 
Schaff,  vol.  i.  pp.  859-874  (the  Confession  of  1075  is  in  vol.  iii.,  p.  789). 
In  the  United  States,  see  Bancroft,  Palfrey,  Memorial  History  of  Boston, 
and  G.  E.  Ellis's  The  Puritan  Commonwealth;  from  the  Friends'  point  of 
view,  R.  P.  Hallowell's  The  Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts. 


3.   THE   NEW   CHURCH. 

To  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and  peace.  —  ROM.  viii.  6. 

Name.  —  The  members  of  this  body  are  commonly  called 
Swedenborgians  ;  but  they  do  not  use  the  name  themselves.  Their 
official  title  is  "  The  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem. " 

History. — Emanuel  Swedenborg,  whose  theological  writings 
.are  regarded  by  this  religious  body  as  containing  a  true  and 
divinely  revealed  exposition  of  Christian  doctrine,  was  born  at 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  in  1688.  His  father,  Jesper  Swedberg,  was 
a  professor  of  theology  and  a  bishop  in  the  Lutheran  Church, 
a  man  of  great  piety  and  learning,  and  a  zealous  reformer.  His 
son  Emanuel  was  finely  educated,  and  became  famous  for  mechan- 
ical and  mathematical  inventions.  He  was  led  by  his  researches 


148  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

into  higher  regions  of  thought,  and  especially  to  inquire  into  the 
relations  of  matter  and  spirit.  About  the  year  1745  he  claimed 
that  his  spiritual  bight  was  opened.  Of  this  call  Swedenborg  him- 
self wrote:  "  I  have  been  called  to  a  holy  office  by  the  Lord  Him- 
self, who  most  graciously  manifested  Himself  in  person  to  me  His 
servant  in  the  year  1 745,  when  He  opened  my  sight  to  the  view 
of«the  spiritual  world,  and  granted  me  the  privilege  of  conversing 
with  spirits  and  angels,  which  I  enjoy  to  this  day  (17G9).  From 
that  time  I  began  to  print  and  publish  various  arcana  that  have 
been  seen  by  me  or  revealed  to  me,  —  as  respecting  heaven  and 
hell,  the  state  of  man  after  death,  the  true  worship  of  God,  the 
spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  with  mar.y  most  important  matters 
conducive  to  salvation  and  true  wisdom." 

He  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  the<e  matters,  abandoning  his 
former  studies.  To  his  seventy-seven  treatises  on  scientific  sub- 
jects were  now  added  more  than  that  number  upon  Biblical  and 
theological  subjects,  the  chief  of  them  being  his  "  Arcana  Cceles- 
tia,"  in  eight  large  volumes.  Throughout  his  long  period  of 
spiritual  activity,  he  retained  and  honorably  filled  a  seat  in  the 
Swedish  senate,  and  presented  several  memorials  of  importance  to 
his  country.  He  died  in  1772.  lie  was  a  man  of  iron  constitu- 
tion, of  prodigious  intellectual  activity  and  power,  of  simple  life, 
universally  respected  and  loved  even  by  those  who  ridiculed  his 
claims  and  his  doctrines. 

His  views  were  taken  up  after  his  death  by  scholars  in  Sweden, 
England,  Germany,  and  the  United  States.  The  first  public 
meeiing  was  held  in  London,  1783;  but  the  first  society  was 
organized  there  in  1787.  The  first  general  conference  was  held 
there  in  1 789,  and  the  first  convention  in  this  country,  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  1817. 

Doctrines.  —  The  doctrines  of  the  New  Church  claim  to  be 
a  revelation  of  spiritual  truth,  intended  to  enable  us  rightly  to 
understand  the  sacred  Scripture,  to  unfold  its  higher  wisdom, 
whereby  a  purer  and  more  exalted  state  of  life  may  be  attained. 
For  this  purpose  a  human  instrument  was  needed,  and  such  an 
instrument  was  provided  in  the  person  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg. 
By  those  who  are  convinced  of  the  truths  of  his  religious  system, 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  149 

his  mind  is  believed  to  have  been  illumined  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  His  spiritual  senses  were  opened,  enabling  him  to  see 
and  converse  with  beings  in  the  other  world  and  describe  the 
nature  of  its  life,  and  al?o  to  discern  the  internal,  or  as  it  is 
called,  spiritual  meaning  of  the  Scripture. 

The  New  Church  believes  and  teaches  that  God  is  love  itself 
and  wisdom  itself;  that  he  is  one  both  in  essence  and  in  person; 
and  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  His  now  glorified  and  Divine 
Humanity  is  the  perfect  embodiment  o£  that  God.  The  Trinity 
is  not  a  trinity  of  persons,  but  of  divine  essentials)  consisting  of 
love,  wisdom,  and  their  proceeding  operation,  and  called  in  the 
Gospels  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  like  the  soul,  body, 
and  their  resultant  energy.  The  Father  is  in  the  Son,  as  man's 
soul  is  within  his  body;  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father 
by  the  Son,  as  man's  power  proceeds  into  act  from  his  soul  by 
means  of  his  body.  The  divine  trinity  in  the  Lord  is,  then,  of 
the  same  nature  as  the  finite  trinity  in  man,  —  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit  being  one  Lord  in  one  Person,  as  the  soul,  body, 
and  the  life  of  man  are  one  man. 

While  the  Lord  was  on  earth,  He  had  both  a  human  and  a 
divine  nature,  just  as  every  man  has  an  external  and  an  internal, 
or  what  is  sometimes  called  a  lower  and  a  higher  nature.  As  to 
the  external  nature,  which  was  derived  by  incarnation,  He  was 
frail,  finite,  liable  to  temptation,  like  any  other  man  ;  but  as  to 
His  internal  or  essential  bfinsf  He  was  infinite,  perfect,  divine. 
By  His  own  divine  power,  He  gradually  overcame  the  evil  apper- 
taining to  the  Humanity  or  nature  assumed  by  birth,  conquered 
all  the  powers  of  hell,  put  off  all  that  was  frail  and  finite,  and 
brought  down  into  every  region  of  that  nature  the  very  divine 
love  and  wisdom,  and  so  made  it  one  with  the  essential  and  in- 
dwelling divinity.  This  is  what  is  understood  by  the  Lord's 
"glorification"  mentioned  in  the  Gospels. 

According  to  the  New  Church,  the  Sacred  Scripture  is  inspired. 
When  understood  in  its  true  sense,  it  is  seen  to  treat  of  things 
spiritual  and  eternal,  —  of  God,  the  soul,  immortality,  redemption, 
regeneration,  sin,  forgiveness.  It  appears  to  treat  of  things 
natural  and  temporal.  But  these  are  believed  to  be  capable  of 


150  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

spiritual  interpretation.  They  all  have  a  deeper  or  more  prop- 
erly a  spiritual  meaning.  So  that  within  or  above  the  apparent 
meaning  of  any  passage  there  is  a  higher  meaning  called  the 
spiritual.  And  this  spiritual  sense  is  to  that  of  the  letter  as  the 
soul  is  to  the  body. 

But  Swedenborg,  in  revealing  the  law  of  a  divine  composition, 
has  disclosed  at  the  same  time  a  means  by  which  the  spiritual 
sense  may  be  unfolded;  namely,  the  law  of  analogy,  or  more 
properly,  of  correspondences.  According  to  this  law,  which  was 
known  to  the  ancients,  all  natural  things  are  seen  to  bear  a  rela- 
tion to  spiritual  things.  A  knowledge  of  this  law  opens  the  book 
of  Nature,  making  every  living  object  a  voice  to  tell  us  of  the 
spiritual  forces  from  -which  it  springs.  It  is  also  found  to  be  the 
key  to  the  Bible,  enabling  us  to  see  within  a  temporary  and  local 
clothing  principles  of  universal  and  eternal  application.  So  defi- 
nite and  systematic  is  this  law  of  correspondences  that  a  hundred 
different  expositors  equally  skilled  in  its  use  will  thereby  arrive  at 
substantially  the  same  spiritual  sense. 

The  New  Church  believes  that  man  is  born  with  hereditary 
tendencies  to  evil.  But  he  is  not  a  sinner  because  he  inherits 
these  proclivities,  but  only  when  ho  yields  to  them  in  actual  evil. 
This  natural  or  hereditary  state  is  not  a  heavenly  one.  Gradually 
the  natural,  inordinate  love  of  self  and  the  world  must  be  replaced 
by  a  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor.  This  takes  place  in  the 
degree  that  a  men  regards  the  indulgence  of  any  known  evil  as 
a  Mn  against  God,  and  shuns  it  because  it  is  a  sin,  at  the  same 
time  conforming  his  life  to  all  known  truth  from  a  sense  of  re- 
ligious obligation.  So  far  as  he  docs  this,  his  evils  are  removed 
and  forgiven,  and  the  opposite  good  affections  are  given  him  in 
their  stead. 

The  New  Church  teaches  that  man  does  not  die.  The  material 
body  alone  dies.  The  spirit,  which  is  the  real  man,  continues  to 
live,  but  in  the  spiritual  world  where  all  things  are  homogeneous 
to  itself.  The  spirit  is  in  the  human  form,  having  senses  far  more 
acute  than  those  of  the  body ;  and  these  senses  are  opened  as  soon 
as  the  body  dies,  so  that  the  spirit  sees  and  hears  other  spirits  as 
men  see  and  hear  one  another.  During  our  life  on  earth  the 


A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS.  151 

spiritual  body  is  within  the  natural.  But  after  the  death  of  the 
latter,  the  spiritual  body  still  lives  on  in  its  own  world,  and  never 
resumes  its  material  vestment.  And  the  separation  of  the  spirit 
from  the  incumbrance  of  gross  matter,  which  takes  place  almost 
immediately  after  death,  is  what  is  understood  by  the  resurrection. 

The  "Judgment  "  consists  in  the  revelation  of  man's  real  inward 
character  or  purpose.  By  the  law  of  affinity  which  governs  all 
associations  in  the  other  world,  spirits  go  with  those  whose  charac- 
ters are  most  congenial  to  their  own.  Thus  each  one  goes  '*  to 
his  own  place  "  in  perfect  freedom. 

The  happiness  of  heaven  does  not  consist  in  idleness  or  cessa- 
tion from  active  employment,  nor  in  continual  psalm-singing  and 
oral  prayer,  nor  in  feasting  sumptuously  with  the  patriarchs,  nor 
in  being  raised  to  honors,  nor  in  the  exercise  of  dominion  over 
others,  but  in  the  diligent  and  wise  performance  of  good  uses  from 
love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor;  in  the  freest  expansion  and 
highest  exercise  of  all  one's  best  faculties,  not  for  the  sake  of  self, 
but  primarily  for  the  good  of  others. 

The  Nev/  Church  believes  that  the  Lord's  second  coming  has 
actually  commenced  ;  that  it  is  a  coining,  not  in  person,  but  in  a 
new  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  which  will  lead  all  who  from 
the  heart  believe  in  God  and  Ids  Word  into  the  way  of  truth,  and 
into  a  new  power  of  Christian  goodness  and  love. 

Government.  —  The  polity  of  this  religious  body  is  both  simple 
and  liberal.  Strict  uniformity  as  to  liturgical  usages  or  rules  of 
church  government  is  not  insisted  upon.  Each  society  is  free 
to  arrange  for  its  own  services  and  act  under  its  own  rules,  which, 
however,  are  quite  similar.  Societies  geographically  near  to  each 
other  group  themselves  into  an  "  Association,"  which  then  appoints 
one  of  its  ministers  as  a  '-  General  Pastor,"  whose  duty  it  is  to 
exercise  a  general  oversight  of  the  spiritual  interests  of  his  Asso- 
ciation. These  Associations  are  joined  together  in  a  general  body, 
known  as  the  "General  Convention  of  the  New  Jerusalem  :n  the 
United  States  of  America."  This  general  body  meets  annually. 
To  this  body  the  several  Associations  make  a  report  of  their  work. 
These  meetings,  together  with  a  special  conference,  or  meeting  of 
all  the  ministers,  Sunday-school  superintendents,  and  teachers,  etc., 


152  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

occupy  about  a  week,  and  are  much  enjoyed.  The  Rev.  Chauncey 
Giles,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  has  heen  president  of  the  General 
Convention  for  many  years. 

Ministers  are  introduced  into  their  office  by  the  usual  rite  of 
ordination,  performed  by  one  of  the  "  General  Pastors  "  above 
mentioned.  The  church  recognizes  and  carefully  observes  two 
sacraments,  Baptism  and  the  Holy  Supper. 

Statistics.  —  The  "  New-Church  Almanac  "  for  1889  sums  up 
in  America,  including  Canada,  11  Associations,  127  active  socie- 
ties, of  which  88  have  regular  ministerial  services,  and  (estimated) 
7,028  communicant  members.  To  ihese  are  added  3,150  not  con- 
nected with  any  body,  making  a  total  of  10,178.  There  are  82 
houses  of  worship,  65  "reading  circles,"  91  Sabbath-schools,  and 
91  clergy  in  active  service  of  various  kinds.  To  the  membership 
must  be  added  the  usual  merely  congregational  connection.  The 
largest  number  is  in  Massachusetts.  There  is  a  Theological  School 
in  Cambridge,  Mass. ;  and  Urbana  University,  at  Urbana,  Ohio,  is 
under  New  Church  control. 

In  England  there  were,  in  1885,  65  societies  and  32  ministers, 
with  about  a  dozen  educational  and  missionary  institutions.  There 
are  also  churches  in  the  colonies,  in  South  Germany,  Austria, 
Norway,  and  Switzerland. 


The  influence  of  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church  upon  those 
who  sincerely  and  intelligently  hold  them  is  very  marked  and  very 
beautiful.  They  give  very  much  the  same  serenity  and  quiet  trust 
which  the.  primitive  Friends  had,  without  their  intolerance  and 
proselytism,  and  especially  sweet  equanimity  and  faith  in  death 
and  bereavement.  They  have  also  great  power  over  many  thought- 
ful people  in  their  theory  of  the.  Scriptures,  and  in  the  wider  ap- 
plication of  the  doctrine,  of  "correspondences"  throughout  the 
relations  of  matter  and  spirit.  There  has  been  much  intellectual 
sympathy  between  them  and  the  Unitarians  of  this  com. try.  though 
there  has  been  nofotmal  expression  of  it.  In  their  exclusion  from 
the  fellowshipof  "  Evangelical  "  Christians,  in  their  dissatisfaction 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  literal  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  in  their 
search  for  a  higher  and  wider  interpretation  of  sacred  history,  in 
their  denial  of  the  Trinity  and  other  doctrines  held  by  the  popular 
sects,  and  in  their  theories  of  the  future  life,  we  find  much  to 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  153 

accept.  On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  accede  to  the  claims  made 
for  Swedenborg ;  and  we  share  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  even 
after  a  century  of  open  and  fair  discussion,  its  denial  of  the 
"second  sense''  of  the  Scriptures.  The  latter  is  an  old  doctrine, 
running  back  to  the  Jewish  scholars  of  the  time  of  Jesus,  and  the 
Christian  scholars  of  the  third  century,  hut  always  failing  to  pain 
support.  It  is  but  a  temporary  refuge  fur  those  who  are  driven 
from  belief  in  the  literal  infallibility  of  the  Scriptures;  and  the 
spiritual  beauty  and  elevation  which  it  finds  in  so  many  plainly 
commonplace  passages  are  evidently  first  transferred  to  them  out 
of  the  revelations  which  the  Spirit  makes  to-day.  But  ihe  argu- 
ments which  Swedenborg  addresses  directly  to  the  rea>on  of  men 
are  often  of  the  highest  value;  and  no  more  beautiful,  comforting, 
or  reasonable  ideas  of  the  future  life  have  ever  been  uttered  than 
by  him.  He  stands  among  the  great  religious  teachers  oi  history. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  the  popular  name  of  this  sect  ?  its  official  name  ?  Who  was  its 
founder  ?  Of  what  nation  was  lie  ?  of  what  parentage  V  In  what  was  he 
first  eminent  ?  When  was  his  attention  turned  to  religious  matters  ?  How? 
What  course  did  he  pursue  V  What  is  his  chief  work  ?  What  can  you  say 
of  his  character?  How  were  his  views  spread  ? 

What  is  the  New  Church  view  of  Swedenborg?  of  the  Trinity?  How 
does  tin's  dift'er  from  the  popular  doctrine  ?  What  is  said  of  the  relation  of 
the  two  natures  in  Christ  ?  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  ?  of  the 
double  meaning?  How  is  this  applied  to  the  world  in  general?  What  is 
the  doctrine  of  human  nature?  of  salvation?  of  death?  of  the  relation 
between  the  living  and  the  dead  ?  of  the  future  life  ?  of  the  judgment  ?  of 
the  second  advent  of  Christ  ? 

What  can  you  say  of  the  effect  of  New  Church  doctrines  upon  those 
believers  whom  you  know?  What  is  the  feeling  of  Unitarians  toward  the 
New  Church  ?  What  points  have  they  in  common  ?  How  do  we  differ 
from  them  as  to  Swedenborg?  as  to  the  " second  sense "?  What  is  the 
history  of  this  latter  doctrine  ?  What  use  has  it  served  ?  How  do  you 
account  for  the  satisfaction  it  gives  ?  What  great  good  has  Swedenborg 
done  ? 

REFERENCES. 

A  good  summary  in  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia.  The  latest  and  presumably 
best  life  of  Swedenborg  is  that  by  Benjamin  Worcester,  Boston,  1883,  though 
there  are  several  others.  The  later  and  larger  biography  of  White  is  raid 
to  contain  many  slanders.  See  also  Emerson's  essay  in  Representative  Men. 
The  best  brief  exposition  of  the  doctrine  is  James  Reed's  Swedenborg  and 


154  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

the  New  Church,  Boston,  1881,  of  which  there  is  also  a  ver}'  cheap  edition- 
Al^o  good  is  Chauncey  Giles's  Why  I  am  a  Ntw  Churchman.  Swedenborg's 
own  works  are,  of  course,  the  standards.  The  Arcana  Cceltstia,  in  eight 
large  volumes,  is  an  exposition  of  the  spiritual  sense  of  Genesis  and  Exodus. 
The  True  Christian  Religion  contains  a  summary  of  doctrine,  while  Heaven* 
and  Us  Woti'lers  and  Htll  goes  into  detail  about  the  future  life.  A  short 
summary  in  Swedenborg's  own  words  is  The  New  Jtrusalem  and  its  Heav- 
enly Doctrine  as  revealed  from  Heaven.  The  literature  of  the  New  Church, 
is  remarkably  abundant,  and  may  be  learned  from  the  catalogues  of  the 
publication  societies. 


4.  THE   ADVENTISTS. 

WHERE  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  air 
things  continue  as  they  were.  —  2  PETER  iii.  4. 

ADVKXTISTS  are  those  Christians  who  believe  that  the  visible, 
personal  second  coming  or  advent  of  Christ  is  near  at  hand,  and 
that  at  this  coming  the  millennium,  or  thousand  years'  reign,  will 
begin.  They  exi-t  in  several  organizations,  and  are  often  called 
"Millerites,"  from  their  founder,  William  Miller. 

That  Christ  will  soon  come  back  was  the  belief  of  the  first 
Christians,  as  shown  by  many  passages  in  the  Epistles.  Though 
opposed  by  Jerome  and  Augustine,  it  reappeared  at  times  through- 
out Christian  history,  being  especially  strong  at  the  Reformation. 
The  present  organizations  owe  their  beginning  to  William  Miller, 
a  native  of  Massachusetts  and  a  Baptist,  who  began  to  preach  his 
new  views  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1831.  Followers  multi- 
plied, camp-meetings  and  tent-meetings  were  held  where  churches 
or  halls  could  not  be  had,  and  great  excitement  arose,  which 
reached  a  climax  when  Miller  set  the  date  of  the  advent  between 
March  21, 1843,  and  March  21,  1844.  The  date  of  the  crucifixion, 
April  14,  was  a  favorite.  The  failure  of  all  prophecies  was  a 
blow  to  the  cause,  which  had  never  been  organized ;  and  at 
Miller's  death,  in  1849,  the  number  of  believers  decreased  still 
faster.  But  an  organization  had  been  begun  four  years  before 
at  Albany,  around  which  a  new  sect  gathered. 

All  Adventists  are  Evangelical  in  main  points  of  doctrine,  and 
congregational  in  church  government.  They  all  believe  in  the 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  155 

visible  and  speedy  personal  coming  of  Christ,  though  at  an 
uncertain  time ;  in  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  dead  thenf 
in  their  reign  with  Christ  during  the  millennium,  while  the  earth 
is  being  set  in  order  and  the  wicked  subdued;  and  in  the  Judgment 
to  follow.  All  baptize  by  immersion. 

1.  The  "Evangelical  Adventists  "  represent  the  original  body. 
They  hold  to  the  natural  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  conscious 
state   of  the  dead,  and  the   conscious   eternal  suffering  of    the 
wicked.     They  number  about  five  thousand. 

2.  The  "  Advent  Christians  "  broke  from  the  main  body,  in 
1854,  on  the  question  of  date.     They  deny  that  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  is  natural,  and  affirm  that  it  is  the  gift  of  Christ,  and 
only  to  believers;  that,  therefore,  the  wicked  will  be  destroyed, 
and  will  not  suffer  eternally.     They  number  about  thirty  thousand. 

3.  The   Seventh-Day  Adventists  have   their   headquarters  at 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan.     They  originated  in  the  "visions"  of 
"  Sister  White,"  of  Palmyra,  Maine,  which  are  regarded  as  spiritual 
manifestations.     They  believe  that  Christ  is  at  work  cleansing  the 
heavenly  sanctuary  "  from  the  presence  of  our  sins,  imparted  to 
it  through  the  blood  of  Christ  there  ministered  in  our  behalf. " 
When  this  is  finished  he  will  come  back,  but  the  time  is  uncer- 
tain.    The  law  of  Moses  is  still  valid,  including  the  Sabbath  on 
the  seventh  day.     They  practise  the  washing  of  feet  and  the  kiss 
of   peace  at  the   Lord's    Supper.      They  number   nearly  thirty 
thousand,  compactly  organized.     They  are  zealous  opponents  of 
intoxicating  liquor  and  tobacco. 

There  are  also  smaller  sects,  as  "Life  and  Advent  Union  "  and 
u  Age-to-come  Adventists,"  both  of  which  reject  the  eternal 
torture  of  the  wicked,  and  the  "Church  of  God"  in  Missouri 
founded  on  a  very  insignificant  divergence  from  the  doctrine  of 
the  Seventh-Day  Adventists.  The  three  have  together  about 
nine  thousand  members. 

All  these  bodies  are  careless  of  educational  matters,  having 
scarcely  any  institutions  of  learning.  There  is  little  church 
property,  but  much  publishing  of  books,  tracts,  and  periodicals. 
The  ministers  usually  labor  during  the  week,  and  so  support 
themselves. 


156  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

There  is  also  an  association  called  "  The  Baptist  Conference 
for  Bible  Study/ '  organized  in  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1890, 
which  consists  of  Baptists  who  look  for  a  second  coming  of 
Christ.  They  set  no  date,  and  do  not  regard  it  as  necessarily 
near,  but  make  it  a  sort  of  third  dispensation.  What  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation  was  to  the  New  Testament,  the  present 
stage  of  revelation  is  to  that  of  the  Advent.  Without  this  the 
sin  and  infidelity  of  the  world  can  never  be  overcome.  At  his 
coming  Christ  will  "  set  up  his  kingdom  in  person,  and  sway  his 
sceptre  over  the  empires  of  the  world  for  one  thousand  years,  sub- 
duing evil,  and  cru?hing  out  wickedness.7'  Then  will  come  the 
Judgment.  There  are  also  many  Presbyterians  who  hold  the 
same  views.  In  neither  case  is  there  any  intention  or  desire  to 
form  a  separate  body,  and  they  must  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  sectarian  Advenlists.  The  "Irvingites"  or  "Catholic 
Apostolic  Church  "  in  England  also  look  for  the  coming  of  Christ 
to  precede  the  millennium. 


The  earliest  documents  of  Christianity  contain  a  clear  expecta- 
tion of  the  return  of  Jesus  before  his  generation  had  passed  away 
(I  Thess.  iv.  13-18;  1  Cor.  vii.  29-31,  xv.  51,52;  Phil.  iv.  5 ; 
James  v.  8;  2  Peter  iii.  1-13;  and  the  Apocalypse  generally). 
Tint  this  expectation  was  founded  upon  the  words  of  Jesus  or 
some  misunderstanding  of  them  is  also  clear  from  many  passages 
in  the  Gospels  (Matt.  x.  7.  23  ;  xxiv.  3-51.  especially  34,  xxv. ; 
xxvi.  29;  Luke  ix.  27).  These  limit  us  to  three  theories,  —  either 
that  these  passages  are  to  be  taken  in  a  figurative  sense,  or 
that  they  have  been  misreported,  or  that  Jesus  himself  mistook 
the  time  or  manner  of  his  return.  The  first  two  probably  unite 
in  the  fact.  Jesus  may  have  spoken  of  the  establishment  of  his 
cause  upon  the  earth  as  his  own  second  coming;  but  there  is  much 
of  his  language  that  cannot  be  fairly  so  understood,  and  it  may 
be  that  it  has  suffered  in  passing  through  the  minds  of  those  who 
heard  him,  and  of  those  who  recorded  his  words.  If  the  Advent- 
ists,  and  indeed  most  Evangelical  Christians,  are  right  in  under- 
standing him  to  have  meant  a  personal  return  to  the  earth,  the 
assertion  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  that  this  would  happen  within 
their  generation,  and  before  those  who  heard  it  were  all  dead, 
remains  irreconcilable  with  historic  facts. 


A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  157 

The  belief  formed  undoubtedly  one  of  the  rally  ing-points  and 
mainstays  of  the  first  Christians,  and  its  gradual  and  quiet  death 
was  a  most  remarkable  result  of  the  earthly  success  of  the  new 
religion.  In  spite  of  its  many  revivals,  it  has  no  serious  place  in 
practical  Christian  faith  now.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  many  a  pessi- 
mistic doctrine,  as  if  the  Christian  revelation  and  the  agencies  it 
has  set  at  work  in  the  world  were  failures,  or  sadly  insufficient, 
and  a  new  start  were  necessary.  To  the  more  thoughtful  mind 
the  coming  of  Christ  is  an  inward  and  gradual  fact,  —  not  a 
failure,  but  an  increasing  success,  though  not  as  swift  as  we  could 
wish.  u  Even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus  !  " 


QUESTIONS. 

Who  are  the  Adventists  ?  What  other  name  is  often  given  them  ?  How 
old  is  their  main  doctrine  ?  Who  revived  the  belief  in  this  century?  Give 
an  account  of  the  circumstances.  What  doctrines  are  held  by  all  Adventists 
in  common?  Who  are  the  "Evangelical  Adventists"?  The  "Advent 
Christians"?  The  " Seventh-Day  Adventists"?  What  other  bodies  do 
you  recall?  What  peculiarities  have  they  all?  What  Adventists  exist 
in  other  bodies  ? 

Is  any  belief  in  the  second  advent  of  Christ  to  be  found  in  the  New 
Testament  ?  What  texts  of  this  tenor  can  you  recall?  What  three  theories 
in  regard  to  these  texts  may  be  held?  Which  seems  to  you  most  probable? 
What  did  the  belief  in  the  second  coming  of  Christ  do  for  primitive  Chris- 
tianity ?  Has  it  any  use  for  us  ?  What  is  the  true  doctrine  ? 

REFERENCES. 

Articles  in  McClintock,  American  Cyclopaedia,  etc. ;  The  Reign  of  Christ, 
by  D.  T.  Taylor ;  History  of  the  Second- Advent  Message,  by  J.  C.  Wellcome ; 
History  of  the  Snbfath  and  First  Day,  by  John  Nevins  Andrews ;  Thoughts 
on  Daniel  and  the  Revelation. 


158  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

SECTION  III. 
THE  LIBERAL   PROTESTANT   SECTS. 

1.    THE   UNIVERSALISTS. 

As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  —1  COR. 
xv.  22. 

Name.  —  A  IJniversalist  is  one  who  believes  in  universal  salva- 
tion ;  that  is,  the  ultimate  perfection  and  blessedness  of  all  human 
beings.  The  name  "  Restorationist "  is  older,  but  has  in  later 
times  been  restricted  to  those  who  hold  to  a  probability  of  future 
punishment  before  ultimate  salvation,  as  opposed  to  those  who 
believe  that  all  men  reach  heaven  at  once  after  death. 

History.  —  Many  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  earlier  Chris- 
tians believed  that  all  men  would  finally  be  saved,  especially 
Origen,  in  Alexandria  (185-254).  But  the  great  influence  of 
Saint  Augustine  (354-430)  prevailed,  and  the  doctrine  sank  al- 
most out  of  sight  till  after  the  Reformation.  It  did  not  come  into 
prominence  till  the  last  century.  James  Relly,  a  preacher  of 
Calvinistic  Methodism  under  Whitefield,  at  last  carried  his  view 
of  predestination  so  far  as  to  believe  (hat  God  would  see  that  all 
men  were  saved.  By  his  writings  John  Murray  was  converted, 
and  became  the  father  of  American  Universalism  as  a  body ; 
though  there  was  a  good  deal  of  latent  belief  in  the  doctrine,  and 
Mayhew  and  Chauncy,  of  Boston,  had  openly  preached  it  in  the 
middle  of  the  century.  Landing  in  America  in  1770,  Murray 
founded  the  first  Universalist  Church  in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  1  779, 
becoming  minister  of  the  church  in  Boston  in  1793,  and  dyin^  as 
such  in  1815.  Following  Relly,  he  taught  election  in  this  life, 
—  that  the  elect  go  directly  to  heaven  at  death.  The  non-elect  are 
purified  by  fire  till  the  Judgment  Day,  when  they  find  that  they 
too  are  saved  by  the  atonement  of  Christ.  Elhanan  Winchester, 
of  Philadelphia,  thought  the  interval  would  be  about  forty-four 
thousand  years.  Murray  was  a  Trinitarian  of  the  modal  or 
Sabellian  type,  maintaining  one  God  in  three  manifestations, 


A   STUDY   OF  THE   SECTS.  159 

but  not  divided  into  three  persons.  He  was  thus  a  thorough 
Calvin  1st,  except  that  he  widened  predestination  to  include  all 
mankind. 

The  preaching  of  Hosea  Ballou,  which  began  in  1790,  marked 
a  new  era.  He  was  practically  a  Unitarian  in  all  points  —  though 
believing  Jesus  to  be  divinely  sent  and  endowed  —  except  that  he 
taught  that  all  men  were  saved  at  death.  There  would  be  no 
future  punishment,  except  for  future  sins.  This  doctrine  proved 
more  popular  than  Murray's,  and  the  sect  grew  more  rapidly. 
A  minority,  however,  still  clung  to  belief  in  punishment  hereafter, 
and  their  view  seems  now  to  have  become  the  prevailing  one. 
Probably  few,  if  any,  Universalists  hold  to  immediate  universal 
salvation  at  death. 

The  doctrine  of  "  eternal  hope  "  has  also  found  many  advocates 
in  the  Church  of  England,  who  claim  that  the  omission  of  the 
article  on  eternal  penalty  in  the  revision  of  the  Articles  under 
Elizabeth  allows  this  latitude.  Stanley,  Kingsley,  Maurice, 
Farrar,  Robertson,  and  many  others  have  held  to  the  hope, 
though  not  to  the  certainty  of  universal  restoration,  —  a  hope 
which  is  widely  cherished  among  other  Evangelical  Christians, 
though  not  always  openly  proclaimed. 

Doctrines.  —  Universalism,  as  we  have  seen,  has  passed 
through  an  almost  complete  transformation.  Beginning  as  Cal- 
vinism, it  has  become  Unitarian  and  liberal.  Like  many  other 
sects,  it  has  a  conservative  and  a  liberal  party,  in  which  the  trans- 
formation is  seen  in  different  stages,  but  the  liberal  tendency 
seems  to  be  rapidly  gaining  ground. 

The  nominal  standard  of  belief  is  the  "Profession  of  Faith" 
adopted  at  Winchester,  N.  H.,  in  1803.  Murray  was  then  living, 
and  the  creed  bears  the  marks  of  a  compromise  between  the  old 
and  the  new  phases  of  belief.  It  probably  does  not  represent  ex- 
actly the  position  of  even  the  majority  of  the  denomination,  but 
as  usual,  it  has  been  found  difficult  to  make  satisfactory  changes 
in  a  form  of  faith  once  settled. 

ARTICLE  I.  —  We  believe  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  contain  a  revelation  <-f  the  character  of  God,  and  of  the  duty, 
interest,  and  final  destination  of  mankind. 


160  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

ARTICLE  IT.  —  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God,  whose  nature  is  Love, 
revealed  hi  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  by  one  Holy  Spirit  of  Grace,  -\vlio  will 
finally  restore  the  whole  family  of  mankind  to  holiness  and  happiness. 

ARTICLE  III  — We  believe  that  holiness  and  true  happiness  are  insepa- 
rably connected,  and  that  believers  ought  to  be  careful  to  maintain  order 
and  practise  good  works;  for  these  things  are  good  and  profitable  unto 
men. 

As  to  the  Bible,  great  latitude  of  opinion  exists,  from  those  who 
hold  the  older  view  of  its  textual  infallibility  to  those  who  see  in 
it  the  record  of  a  progressive  revelation  to  a  people  peculiarly 
fitted  to  receive  it,  but  a  revelation  neither  perfect  nor  final.  The 
Trinity  is  generally  rejected,  and  the  essential  humanity  of  Jesus 
believed,  there  being  some  diversity  as  to  the  extent  to  which  he 
was  supernaturally  endowed  and  guided.  Perhaps  more  emphasis 
is  laid  by  the  average  Universalist  upon  the  official  station  of 
Jesus,  as  in  a  special  sense  a  son  of  God  and  redeemer  of  men, 
than  by  other  Liberals.  As  to  the  future  life,  there  is  general 
agreement  as  to  the  probability  of  some  kind  of  future  discipline 
for  those  who  are  not  sufficiently  purified  by  the  penalties  and 
sufferings  of  this  life;  but  the  belief  in  the  final  restoration  of  all 
to  "holiness  and  true  happiness"  is  emphatic  and  universal. 
This  is  their  distinctive  doctrine. 

Their  worship  is,  Ike  that  of  most  Protestants,  unliturgicalt 
prayer  being  extemporaneous,  though  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  the  antiphonal  reading  of  the  Psalms. 

Government.  —  The  Universalists  have  retained  from  their 
primit.ve  Calvinism  a  tendency  to  a  presbyterian  form  of  church 
polity.  They  are  not  strictly  congrenationalists.  The  supreme 
body  is  the  u  General  Convention,"  which  is  made  up  of  delegates 
from  the  various  k<  State  Conventions."  It  has  established  the 
*'  Profession  of  Faith *'  as  the  creed  of  the  denomination,  and 
makes  it  a  condition  of  fellowship  in  itself  or  in  the  State  Con- 
ventions, of  the  ordination  of  ministers,  and  of  admission  to 
membership  in  the  churches.  The  State  Convention  is  made 
up  of  a  minister,  two  delegates,  and  one  additional  delegate  for 
every  fifty  members  over  the  first  fifty  from  each  church  in  its 
fellowship. 


A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS.  161 

Statistics.  —  The  Universalists  are  practically  an  American 
body,  the  only  churches  outside  this  country  being  two  in 
Scotland.  There  are  here  (1889)  721  churches,  containing 
38,780  members  and  holding  about  $8,000,000  of  property,  and 
having  53,000  in  their  Sunday-schools.  They  are  strongest  in 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  Maine,  Vermont,  Ohio,  and  Illinois. 
They  do  not  increase  much,  if  at  all,  in  numbers,  though  they  are 
said  to  be  more  active  than  formerly  in  church  and  denominational 
life.  They  have  3  theological  schools,  4  colleges,  5  academies, 
and  7  periodicals,  besides  Sunday-school  papers.  The  "  Univer- 
salist  Record,"  recently  established,  represents  the  influential  and 
increasing  liberal  element. 


The  Universalists  and  the  Unitarians  are  commonly  called 
together  "Liberal  Christians.''  The  differences  between  them 
are  small  and  are  growing  smaller.  Both  have  changed  very 
much  since  their  modern  reappearance.  The  Universalists,  be- 
ginning as  Calvinists,  have  become  Unitarian  at  almost  every 
point,  while  the  Unitarians,  beginning  with  an  aversion  to  the 
doctrine  of  universal  restoration,  many  with  an  actual  belief  in 
eternal  punishment,  have  all  come  to  hold  at  least  the  eternal 
hope.  The  differences  which  remain  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows:  — 

1.  Universalists  lay  more  stress  on  dogmatic  belief  than  Unita- 
rians, having  their  common  creed,  and  generally  a  very  vivid  and 
positive  opinion  on  its  various  points.     They  have  always  been 
fond  of  textual  controversy,  as  well  as  of  argument  on  grounds  of 
reason  and  conscience. 

2.  They  emphasize  the  supernatural  element  in  religion  more 
fully,  —  the  divine  mission  and  endowment  of  Jesus,  the  excep- 
tional inspiration  of  the  Bible,  the  agency  of  God  in  bringing  all 
men  to  goodness  in  the  end;   while  Unitarians  have  seen  more 
clearly  the  moral  and  spiritual  excellencies  of  Jesus  and  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  power  of  man  over  his  own  destiny. 

3.  As  to  the  future  life,  the  Universalist  says  that  all  men  ivill 
be  saved,  while  the  Unitarian  says  that  he  hopes  they  may.     The 
Universalist  retains  so  much  of  his  Calvinism  as  to  emphasize  the 
sovereignty  of  God  even  to  predestination ;  while  the  Unitarian-, 
in  his  respect  for  the   power  of  the  human   will,  even  for  evil, 
seeing  that  characters  are  often  still  diverging  as  they  go  out  of 
this  world,  feels  a  certain  sad  reserve  in  his  trust  in  their  union 
hereafter. 

11 


162  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

4.  As  the  Universalist  still  leans  toward  Orthodoxy  in  his  love 
of  dogma,  so  he  does  in  his  loyalty  to  the  outward  institutions  of 
religion.     He  is  more  faithful  in  attendance  at  church,  more  likely 
to  become  a  "member,"  more  fond  of  baptism  and  the  communion, 
more  interested  in  prayer-meetings. 

5.  But  probably  the  real  cause  of  the  separate  existence  of  the 
two  bodies  lies  in  their  separate  origin  and  .history.     The  Uni- 
tarians were  at  first  simply  a  section  of  the  old  Congregational 
body,  the  established  church  of  New  England,  broken  oft'  in  con- 
troversy,  and  carrying  away  bodily  most  of  the  oldest  church 
organizations,  with  their  wealth,  social  prestige,  scholarly  tradi- 
tions, and  general  conservatism  of  temperament.     The  Univer- 
salists  were  an  entirely  new  body,  raised  by  earnest  though  not 
always  well-educated  preachers  out  of  sturdy  and  fearless  stock 
in    the   middle   class.      They  were   the   "  Roundheads "   of    the 
Liberal  movement,  and  have  always  had  more  influence  upon  the 
mass  of   people  than   their  Unitarian   co-workers.     Out   of   this 
difference  have  grown  many  considerations  which  kept  the  two 
bodies  apart  in  the  past.     Now  those  considerations  are   disap- 
pearing, and  the  two  movements  keep  apart  merely  because  they 
began  so.     The  union  of  the  two  is  devoutly  to  be  wished,  and 
must  some  day  be  accomplished. 

The  Universalists  have  been  prominent  in  social  reforms,  and 
are  always  good  fighters.  They  were  active  in  the  anti-slavery 
movement,  and  are  zealous  in  temperance  and  woman  suffrage. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  does  the  name  "Universalist"  mean?  what  "  Restorationist "  ? 
What  place  had  this  doctrine  among  the  earlier  Christians  V  Who  was  its 
greatest  champion  ?  its  greatest  opponent  ?  Who  was  its  modern  reviver  ? 
What  was  his  history?  How  did  it  influence  his  belief?  Who  was,  the 
father  of  American  Universalism  ?  What  were  his  doctrines  ?  Who  suc- 
ceeded him  as  leader  ?  What  change  did  he  effect  ?  How  far  is  his  view 
of  the  future  life  still  held?  What  advocates  has  the  "eternal  hope" 
elsewhere  ? 

What  tendency  is  gaining  ground  now  ?  What  do  you  mean  by  this  ? 
What  is  the  nominal  standard  of  faith?  What  do  you  see  in  Article  II.  of 
the  nature  of  a  compromise  ?  What  is  the  belief  about  the  Bible  ?  about 
the  Trinity  ?  about  Jesus  ?  about  the  future  life  ?  What  is  their  worship  ? 
What  is  their  form  of  government?  What  power  has  the  General  Conven- 
tion ?  How  does  all  this  differ  from  our  own  polity  ? 

What  are  Universalists  and  Unitarians  together  called  ?  How  have  they 
both  changed  ?  What  beliefs  have  they  in  common  now  ?  How  do  they 
differ  as  to  dogmatic  belief  ?  how  as  to  supernaturalism  ?  how  as  to  the 


A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  163 

future  life  ?  how  as  to  outward  religion  ?  What  can  you  say  of  their  origin? 
Who  were  the  "Roundheads"?  How  were  the  Universalists  like  them? 
How  were  the  Unitarians  like  the  u  Cavaliers  "?  Have  these  differences 
increased,  or  not  ?  What  position  have  the  JJniversalists  taken  toward 
social  reforms  ?  Do  you  know  many  Universalists  ?  Have  you  found  any 
difference  between  them  and  ourselves  ?  Do  you  think  they  are  likely  to 
grow  ?  How  far  do  you  think  their  main  doctrine  is  held  in  other  bodies  ? 
What  effect  would  this  have  upon  the  growth  of  Universalists?  Do  you 
think  all  men  likely  to  be  saved?  Why?  What  influence  do  you  think 
this  belief  would  have  upon  people  generally?  If  men  resist  God  here, 
what  reason  is  there  for  thinking  that  they  will  yield  to  him  hereafter  ? 
What  does  the  Bible  say? 

REFERENCES. 

The  best  exposition  of  average  Universalism  is  T.  B.  Thayer's  Theology 
of  Universalism.  The  views  of  the  liberal  party  are  given  in  a  recent 
work,  called  Essays  Doctrinal  and  Practical,  by  several  clergymen.  The 
Lives  of  John  Murray,  Hosea  Ballou,  and  T.  B.  Whittemore  are  useful  in 
history.  See  also  McClintock  and  Strong,  Fisher's  Index,  and  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica. 


2.   THE   UNITARIANS. 

ONE  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you 
all.  — EPH.  iv.  6. 

Name.  —  The  word  Unitarian  is  now  commonly  used  to 
designate  those  who  believe  in  the  unity  of  the  personality  of 
G.od,  as  distinct  from  the  Trinitarians,  who  believe  in  three  divine 
Persons.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  disputed,  but  it  seems  to 
have  appeared  first  in  Hungary,  in  the  (new)  Latin  form  of  Uni- 
tarius,  about  1570.  It  was  first  officially  used  in  Transylvania  in 
1638,  and  the  English  word  is  now  so  used  by  the  Associations  of 
England  and  America  also,  though  it  is  not  found  till  1687.  The 
common  names  for  Unitarians  were  at  first  Anti-trinitarians, 
Arians,  Socinians,  Racovians,  and  others.  In  this  country  they 
are  often  called  Unitarian  Congregationalists,  as  being  the  Unita- 
rian branch  of  the  Congregationaiist  body  since  the  division  at 
the  beginning  of  this  century.  In  England,  for  a  similar  reason, 
they  are  often  called  Presbyterians. 


164        .  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

History.  —  Unitarianism,  considered  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  the  Godhead,  is  older  than  Christianity.  The  Jews  were 
in  this  sense  Unitarians,  when  they  had  emerged  from  polytheism. 
Jesus  and  his  Apostles  were  therefore  brought  up  in  this  faith,  and 
nothing  but  the  plainest  proof  should  allow  any  one  to  believe 
that  they  ever  departed  from  it.  That  the  earliest  Christians  did 
not  believe  in  the  Trinity  is  shown  not  only  by  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  by  the  fact  that  the  last  remnant  of  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, the  Ebionites,  believed  in  the  unity  of  God,  till  they  vanished 
in  the  fifth  century.  The  development  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  (see  pp.  24-28)  had  to  fight  its  way  to  success ;  and  when 
the  Arians  were  officially  denounced  at  the  Council  of  Nicaja  in 
325,  they  were  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  numerous  as  their  victorious 
opponents. 

Unitarianism,  however,  reappeared  with  the  Reformation.  Its 
martyrs  began  with  Adam  Duff,  who  was  executed  in  Dublin  in 
1326,  and  the  last  man  burned  for  heresy  in  England  was  Edward 
Wightman,  a  Unitarian,  in  1612.  The  most  celebrated  of  the 
Unitarian  martyrs  was  Michael  Servetus  (Miguel  Serveto),  a 
Spaniard,  who  was  burned  at  Geneva  in  1553  at  the  instigation 
of  John  Calvin.  Of  far  greater  influence  upon  Unitarian  doctrine 
and  history  were  Laelio  and  Fausto  Sozzino,  better  known  under 
their  Latin  names,  Laelius  and  Faustus  Socinus,  uncle  and  nephew. 
The  former  had  the  finer  mind ;  the  latter  was  the  more  active 
teacher,  and  from  him  came  the  name  Socinianism,  under  which 
the  Unitarianism  of  the  Reformation  days  was  generally  known. 
He  taught,  however,  that  Christ,  though  not  pre-existing,  became 
God  by  his  goodness,  and  is,  therefore,  now  to  be  worshipped; 
and  held  other  doctrines  which  Unitarianism  to-day  would  re- 
ject. Under  his  leadership,  Socinianism  became  the  belief  of  a 
wealthy,  cultivated,  and  powerful  body  in  Poland,  of  which  the 
king  was  a  member.  But  under  the  Catholic  reaction  all  kinds  of 
Protestantism  were  swept  out  of  Poland,  and  Socinianism  never 
has  regained  a  footing  there.  It  had  also  been  brought  to  Tran- 
sylvania by  LaBlius  Socinus ;  and  there,  though  much  reduced  at 
one  time  by  Catholic  oppression,  it  still  survives  with  some  pros- 
perity. The  seed  planted  in  Italy,  France,  Switzerland,  and  Hoi- 


A   STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  165 

land,  though  at  first  seeming  to  flourish,  died  out  under  the 
combined  hostility  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  enemies. 

The  most  prosperous  bodies  of  Unitarians  to-day  are  in  England 
and  the  United  States.  Socinianism  was  introduced  into  England 
by  Bernardino  Occhino,  Faustus  Socinus,  and  others  of  their 
generation,  and  it  flickered  more  or  less  plainly  through  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  first  church  was  established  about  1645  by 
John  Bidle,  who  is  called  the  "  Father  of  English  Unitarian  ism." 
He  died  in  prison,  whither  he  had  been  sent  on  account  of  his 
belief ;  but  other  churches  sprang  up,  and  their  doctrine  spread 
quietly  but  widely  in  the  Church  of  England.  Milton,  Newton, 
Locke,  and  other  famous  men  were  Unitarians  of  various  shades. 
But  more  Unitarians  came  from  the  Presbyterians  than  from  any 
other  body,  nearly  half  of  the  churches  of  this  faith  now  existing 
in  England  having  been  once  Presbyterian,  many  of  them  still 
retaining  that  name. 

The  founder  of  the  present  organized  body  of  English  Unitarians 
was  the  Rev.  Theophilus  Lindsey,  who  left  the  Church  of  England 
and  gathered  a  Unitarian  congregation  in  Essex  Street,  London, 
in  1774,  which  included  many  noted  people.  He  was  followed 
the  next  year  by  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  famous  as  a  man  of  science, 
and  especially  as  the  discoverer  of  oxygen.  The  law  at  that  time 
held  the  denial  of  the  Trinity  to  be  blasphemy,  and  it  was  not 
until  1813  that  Unitarians  were  placed  on  a  level  with  other  Dis- 
senters. The  denomination  has  continued  to  flourish,  and. now 
holds  a  respected  place  among  Protestant  bodies.  There  are  also 
some  strong  churches  in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  in  Wales,  and  a 
few  in  Scotland. 

In  the  United  States  Unitarianism  began  in  New  England  and 
is  still  strongest  there,  though  rapidly  spreading  of  late  in  the 
West.  Its  history  may  be  divided  into  four  periods, — formation, 
separation,  vocation,  and  organization.  Its  formation  was  quiet, 
gradual,  and  long.  It  extends  from  early  New  England  history 
down  to  the  year  1819,  when  the  Unitarian  churches  first  assumed 
a  separate  existence.  The  chief  events  of  this  time  were  the 
"Half-way  Covenant"  and  the  " Great  Awakening,"  and  the 
leading  liberal  was  Charles  Chauncy,  minister  of  the  First  Church 


166  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

in  Boston.  The  Half-way  Covenant  of  1662  set  aside  the  old  idea 
of  a  converted  church  membership  and  admitted  to  the  church 
those  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy,  who  did  not  deny  the  doc- 
trines, and  were  not  of  scandalous  life.  They  were  not,  however, 
allowed  to  come  to  the  communion ;  hence  the  name  of  the  measure. 
The  result  was  the  dilution  of  the  old  Calvinistic  theology  in  pew 
and  pulpit,  and  Arminianism  made  great  strides  in  New  England. 
To  counteract  this  state  of  things  Jonathan  Edwards  stimulated  a 
"revival"  at  Northampton  in  1735,  which  was  renewed  in  1740 
by  Whitefield,  the  great  English  Methodist  preacher,  by  Gilbert 
Tennent  in  New  Jersey,  and  by  others.  This  latter  revival  was 
known  as  "  The  Great  Awakening."  It  aroused  the  churches 
and  increased  their  membership;  led  to  the  abolition  by  most 
churches  of  the  Half-way  Covenant  and  the  restoration  of  a  con- 
verted membership  and  ministry.  But  by  its  appeal  to  the  emo- 
tions and  its  obvious  inconsistency  with  predestination,  it  made 
the  way  easier  for  the  very  Arminianism  it  was  intended  to  check, 
when  it  came  in  the  form  of  Methodism.  Still  further,  it  forced 
people  to  take  sides.  The  revival  of  Calvinism  had  reminded 
New  England  again  of  what  that  grim  system  really  was ;  the  ex- 
cesses of  the  revival  meetings  and  the  meddlesome  disposition  of 
many  of  the  revival  preachers  awoke  an  opposition,  especially  in 
Eastern  New  England,  among  the  cultivated  and  influential 
classes.  From  this  time  Unitarianism  began  to  develop  from 
mere^  Arminianism.  The  first  minister  known  to  have  been  Uni- 
tarian was  Ebenezer  Gay  of  Hingham  (1695-1787).  The  first 
minister  whose  doubt  of  the  Trinity  was  published  was  Jonathan 
Mayhew  of  Boston,  who,  in  1755,  added  a  note  to  that  effect  to 
one  of  his  printed  sermons.  The  first  church  to  become  openly 
Unitarian  was  King's  Chapel  (Episcopal).  The  congregation, 
finding  in  1787  that  their  new  minister,  James  Freeman,  was 
Unitarian,  ordered  all  phrases  inconsistent  with  that  belief  to  be 
expunged  from  the  Prayer  Book. 

The  new  doctrines  spread  fast,  but  were  not  openly  preached. 
The  reasons  for  this  silence  were  that  the  liberals  were  not  yet 
clear  in  their  own  minds,  disapproved  of  controversy,  believing 
the  dogmas  in  question  not  of  as  much  importance  as  their  oppo- 


A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  167 

nents  claimed,  shrank  from  precipitating  a  break  in  the  old 
Congregational  body,  and  were  not  willing  to  have  the  name 
"Unitarian,"  which  was  borne  in  England  by  men  with  whose 
doctrines  they  did  not  agree,  thrust  unjustly  upon  them.  They 
therefore  emphasized  the  value  of  the  Christian  character,  and 
simply  omitted  the  disputed  doctrines  from  their  preaching.  The 
appointment  of  Henry  Ware,  to  be  Hollis  Professor  of  Di- 
vinity in  Harvard  College  roused  great  excitement,  as  it  showed 
that  the  College  itself  had  now  come  under  the  control  of  the  new 
faith.  At  length  it  became  evident  to  the  leaders  of  the  Unitarian 
party  that  the  evils  of  controversy  would  be  less  than  those  of 
silence,  and  in  1819,  at  the  ordination  of  Jared  Sparks  in  Balti- 
more, William  Ellery  Channing,  minister  of  the  Federal  Street 
Church  in  Boston,  preached  a  sermon  defining  and  defending  the 
Unitarian  faith. 

This  began  the  period  of  separation,  which  extends  to  the 
Parker  controversy,  in  1841.  Its  leader  was  Dr.  Channing, 
though  he  was  disinclined  to  close  denominational  organization. 
The  Baltimore  sermon  was  followed  by  declarations  of  belief  all 
over  New  England ;  and  soon  it  was  found  that  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  churches,  most  of  them  among  the  oldest 
and  strongest  of  the  Congregational  body,  were  Unitarian.  The 
question  whether  "  church"  or  "  parish  "  owned  the  property  had 
been  settled  by  the  "  Dedham  case  "  in  favor  of  the  latter,  which, 
where  there  was  any  difference  between  the  two,  was  usually  of 
the  liberal  faith.  So  began  the  Unitarian  body.  In  social,  politi- 
cal, educational,  and  literary  circles  it  had  an  influence  out  of 
proportion  to  its  numbers ;  and  to  a  remarkable  extent  the  poets, 
historians,  statesmen,  and  jurists  of  that  day  in  this  country  were 
Unitarians.  The  clergy  were  scholarly;  the  laity  cultivated, 
honorable,  and  philanthropic.  Partly  by  temperament,  partly 
by  reaction,  they  shunned  controversy,  looked  askance  at  any- 
thing like  sectarianism,  and  disliked  proselyting.  The  American 
Unitarian  Association  was  formed  in  1825,  but  not  warmly 
supported. 

Into  this  quiet  and  happy  but  unprogressive  life  of  the  churches 
Transcendentalism,  or  the  idea  that  the  soul  has  private  and  direct 


168  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

insight  into  truth,  and  may  set  aside  all  authority,  came  at  first  as 
an  intruder.  But  it  was  now  that  Unitarianism  first  realized  its 
vocation,  or  reason  for  separate  existence.  Hitherto  it  had  based 
its  faith,  or  thought  it  had,  upon  Bible  texts.  Henceforth  it  was 
to  be  the  champion  of  the  human  reason  and  conscience,  which 
the  best  in  the  Bible  nourishes  but  must  not  contradict.  The 
leaders  of  this  period  were  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  who  touched 
•Unitarianism  in  his  famous  "Divinity  School  Address,"  in  1838; 
and  Theodore  Parker,  of  West  Roxbury,  whose  sermon  on  "  The 
Transient  and  Permanent  in  Christianity,"  in  1841,  was  the 
beginning  of  a  sad  and  bitter  controversy.  In  time,  however, 
the  two  parties  came  to  understand  each  other  better,  and  to 
stand  together  in  the  "inner  light." 

The  period  of  organization  showed  the  new  life  which  had 
entered  the  body.  The  great  events  of  this  period  have  been  the 
institution  of  the  National  Conference  of  Unitarian  and  other 
Christian  Churches  and  of  the  local  Conferences,  in  1865,  under  the 
lead  of  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bellows,  and  in  more  recent  years  of  many 
other  instrumentalities,  such  as  the  Women's  Alliance,  the  Church 
Building  Loan  Fund,  Unity  Clubs,  Unitarian  Clubs,  and  others. 
The  American  Unitarian  Association  has  come  into  closer  union 
with  the  churches  by  admitting  their  pastors  and  delegates  to  its 
Annual  Meeting,  and  is  supported  with  a  generosity  which  in 
earlier  days  would  have  seemed  impossible.  The  churches  have 
multiplied,  and  Unitarianism  is  fast  extending  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  The  decay  of  the  old  beliefs  and  the  quiet  leavening 
of  the  older  sects  with  Unitarian  principles  have  made  the  growth 
of  the  Unitarian  body  slower  than  it  would  have  been  if  it  had 
met  with  a  more  bitter  opposition.  .  But  it  grows  at  an  increasing 
ratio,  especially  in  the  West  and  on  the  Pacific  coast,  while 
founding  new  churches  still  in  New  England. 

Government.  —  The  American  Unitarians  are  all  congrega- 
tional in  polity ;  that  is,  they  maintain  the  right  of  each  church 
to  regulate  its  own  affairs.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  to  inde- 
pendent action  on  the  part  of  the  churches,  though  of  late  years 
there  is  more  inclination  to  a  closer  fellowship.  The  American 
Unitarian  Association  is  a  purely  voluntary  organization,  consist- 


A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS.  169 

ing  of  life  members,  who  are  made  such  by  payment  of  fifty 
dollars,  and  of  the  delegates  of  churches  which  have  contributed 
to  its  funds  for  two  successive  years  or  more.  The  Association  is 
practically  the  missionary  and  executive  arm  of  the  denomina- 
tion. The  National  Conference  and  the  local  Conferences  are 
also  voluntary  associations,  the  former  meeting  once  in  two  years, 
the  latter  from  one  to  three  times  a  year.  Their  purpose  is  to 
awaken  interest  in  the  activities  of  the  denomination,  and  to 
stimulate  sympathy  and  the  sense  of  fellowship  by  bringing 
together  those  of  a  common  faith.  They  are  not  executive,  and 
seldom  undertake  enterprises  of  their  own. 

Doctrine.  —  Unitarians,  being  congregational  in  church  gov- 
ernment, have  no  common  authoritative  creed.  The  American 
Unitarian  Association  declares  that  its  object  "shall  be  to  diffuse 
the  knowledge  and  promote  the  interests  of  pure  Christianity." 
What  is  meant  by  "  pure  Christianity,"  however,  it  does  not 
define,  nor  does  it  claim  the  right  to  establish  any  conditions  of 
fellowship.  The  constitution  of  the  National  Conference  of  Uni- 
tarian and  other  Christian  Churches  contains  these  statements  : 

"  ART.  IX.  Reaffirming  our  allegiance  to  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  desiring  to  secure  the  largest  'unity  of  the  spirit  and 
the  widest  practical  co-operation,  we  invite  to  our  fellowship  all 
who  wish  to  be  followers  of  Christ. 

"  ART.  X.  While  we  believe  that  the  Preamble  and  Articles 
of  our  Constitution  fairly  represent  the  opinions  of  the  majority 
of  our  churches,  yet  we  wish  distinctly  to  put  on  record  our 
declaration  that  they  are  no  authoritative  test  of  Unitarianism, 
and  are  not  intended  to  exclude  from  our  fellowship  any  who 
while  differing  from  us  in  belief  are  in  general  sympathy  with  our 
purposes  and  practical  aims." 

The  Western  Unitarian  Conference  thus  states  its  position : 

"  We  declare  our  fellowship  to  be  conditioned  on  no  doctrinal 
tests,  and  welcome  all  who  wish  to  join  us  to  help  establish  truth 
and  righteousness  and  love  in  the  world." 

No  church,  however,  holds  itself  bound  by  any  of  these  decla- 
rations, every  church  reserving  the  right  to  state  its  own  belief,  if 
it  cares  to  do  so.  Many  churches  have  "  covenants  "  or  state- 
ments of  faith  and  purpose,  generally  very  simple,  which  are  used 


170  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

with  varying  interest.  More  extended  and  detailed  definitions 
of  Unitarianism  have  been  issued  by  the  American  Unitarian 
Association  in  the  form  of  books  or  tracts,  but  with  the  under- 
standing that  they  are  not  to  be  considered  authoritative. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Unitarians  have  already  been  set  forth  in 
contrast  with  those  of  other  sects.  But  this  contrast  may  give 
the  impression  that  Unitarianism  is  a  mere  negation,  whereas  in 
reality  it  denies  and  excludes  less,  affirms  and  includes  more, 
than  any  other  form  of  Christian  faith. 

Unitarianism  is  rather  a  tendency  than  a  fixed  and  definite  set 
of  opinions.  It  may  be  defined  as  the  tendency  to  see  God  in  the 
natural  order  of  the  world,  material  and  spiritual,  as  distinguished 
from  the  Orthodox  tendency  to  see  Him  only  in  isolated  and  ex- 
ceptional phenomena,  persons,  and  experiences.  Unitarianism  is 
founded  upon  law,  Orthodoxy  upon  miracles.  Unitarianism  be- 
lieves in  the  rule,  Orthodoxy  in  the  exceptions.  Unitarianism 
sees  the  beauty  and  power  of  what  Orthodoxy  calls  exceptions, 
but  considers  them  as  still  under  law,  parts  of  the  natural  and 
divine  order  of  the  world,  and  as  illustrations  of  what  is  true  or 
may  become  true  of  all.  This  distinction  will  become  clearer  as 
it  is  applied  to  the  separate  doctrines. 

Fundamental  to  Unitarianism,  and  following  from  this  tendency,, 
is  its  trust  in  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  It  believes  that  it  is 
neither  hopelessly  blinded  101  helplessly  corrupt,  but  that  in 
spite  of  much  weakness  and  selfishness  it  loves  at  heart  both  truth 
and  goodness. 

Out  of  this  come  the  two  most  distinctive  principles  of  Unita- 
rianism,—  reliance  upon  human  faculties  for  the  discovery  of 
truth,  and  appreciation  of  the  common  virtues  and  graces  of 
human  life,  —  or  as  they  are  usually  called,  reason  in  religion  and 
character  before  creed. 

By  reason  in  religion  is  meant  that  the  truth  necessary  for  the 
right  conduct  of  human  life  is  revealed  to  and  received  by  the 
faculties  which  are  common  to  all  men,  though  they  may  exist  in 
very  different  strength,  and  be  capable  of  very  different  degrees; 
of  apprehension  in  different  minds.  The  inspiration  of  the; 
Almighty  giveth  all  understanding,  though  all  men  are  not  able  to 


A   STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS.  lit 

receive  the  same  amount.  Orthodoxy  denies  this  broad  idea,  and. 
confines  inspiration  to  certain  individuals  and  to  exceptional  facul- 
ties in  them,  isolating  these  faculties  from  those  common  to  hu- 
man nature  by  a  difference  not  in  degree  but  in  kind.  To  these- 
psalmists,  prophets,  evangelists,  apostles,  or  other  sacred  persons 
is  given  the  power  to  perform  miracles ;  that  is,  to  do  in  the  physi- 
cal world  what  no  man  could  do  without  divine  aid.  Revelation  is 
thus  made  a  rare  act  of  God,  and  involves  a  change  both  in  Nature 
and  human  nature.  Orthodox  Protestantism  thus  confines  reve- 
lation to  Bible  times  and  personages,  though  it  asserts  the  con- 
tinued action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  opening  the  deeper  meaning 
of  the  Bible  to  the  eyes  of  faith.  The  Roman  Catholic,  while  be- 
lieving the  Bible  to  be  a  special  divine  revelation,  maintains  that 
revelation  continues,  but  only  through  the  equally  divine  Church. 
The  Unitarian  tends  to  unite  these  two  views,  rejecting  their  nega- 
tions. The  revelations  made  through  the  Bible  and  through  the 
Church  both  contain  divine  truth,  but  God  is  not  shut  within  either 
Bible  or  Church.  He  strives  everywhere  and  always  to  make  Him- 
self and  His  truth  known  to  men;  and  the  science,  philosophy,, 
history,  poetry,  and  all  other  forms  of  the  mental  activity  of  to-day 
may  be  the  instruments  of  His  revelation.  Infallibility  is  impossi- 
ble in  human  life,  as  is  proved  most  clearly  by  the  errors  and  sins 
of  those  who  most  proudly  claim  to  have  infallible  authority  for 
their  beliefs.  But  revelation,  the  unveiling  of  truth,  is  a  constant 
process.  Unitarianism,  therefore,  looks  to  the  natural  operation 
of  the  human  mind  for  truth,  and  holds  itself  in  sympathy  with 
all  sincere  thought,  and  in  readiness  for  new  revelations.  Nor 
does  it  believe  that  God  must  break  the  laws  of  Nature  to  make 
Himself  known.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  in  those  laws  that  He  is 
best  seen.  The  real  miracle  is  the  order  and  harmony  of  the 
whole,  not  the  disturbance  of  any  part  ;  and  the  way  to  a  deeper 
knowledge  of  God  lies  not  in  being  startled  now  and  then  by 
some  exceptional  thing,  but  by  studying  reverently  and  patiently 
the  world  as  it  is. 

The  other  distinctive  principle  of  Unitarianism,  and  one  more 
generally  understood  than  the  first,  is  the  value  set  upon  the  vir- 
tues and  graces  which  sweeten  and  strengthen  common  life.  The 


172  A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS. 

position  of  Orthodoxy  is  that  these  are  not  only  worthless,  but 
actually  abhorrent  to  God,  unless  they  are  the  results  of  certain 
beliefs  and  certain  experiences.  Unitarianisin  maintains  that  the 
fruits  are  not  known  by  the  tree,  but  the  tree  by  the  fruits ;  and 
that  love,  justice,  purity,  patience,  and  the  other  virtues  of  a  manly 
or  womanly  character  have  their  value  and  their  evidence  in  them- 
selves. It  declines  to  consider  only  certain  experiences  as  the 
effect  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  as  the  crises  of  "conversion,"  "re- 
vival" emotions,  and  the  like, — bu;t  believes  that  It  is  seen  in  the 
common  joys  and  sorrows,  peace  and  struggle  of  humanity,  ever 
urging  men  upward.  And  while  Orthodoxy  tends  to  emphasize 
certain  "sacred"  times,  places,  and  ceremonies  as  if  they  were 
valuable  in  themselves  or  the  unique  channels  of  divine  grace,  the 
Unitarian  values  these  only  so  far  as  they  are  of  use  to  practical 
life.  The  sacredness  often  attributed  to  them  alone  he  spreads 
over  all  earnest  human  life.  Divine  service  is  whatever  serves 
God.  Holy  ground  is  wherever  holy  emotions  come.  Sacred 
times  are  all  times  when  the  soul  burns  with  new  faith  or 
insight. 

These  two  principles,  flowing  from  the  main  one,  contain  the 
essence  of  Unitarianism,  and  explain  its  minor  doctrines. 

The  Bible  it  considers  as  containing  words  of  God,  but  not  His 
entire  Word,  or  all  that  He  wishes  men  to  know.  Moreover,  since 
the  truth  it  contains  came  through  human  channels,  it  is  more  or 
less  mingled  with  error.  The  discernment  of  the  truth  is  made 
by  the  reason  and  conscience  of  to-day  under  the  constant  en- 
lightenment of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  Church  is  the  association  of  men  for  religious  purposes, 
and  has  no  authority  but  that  of  the  truth  it  teaches,  and  no  use 
except  to  purify  and  strengthen  daily  life. 

About  Jesus  Unitarians  widely  differ.  There  are  still  some 
Arians,  who  hold  him  to  have  been  a  being  superior  to  man  though 
subordinate  to  God.  There  are  others  who  look  upon  him  as  a 
man  endowed  with  superhuman  powers,  entrusted  with  a  mission 
differing  in  kind  from  any  other  ever  given  to  man,  and  exercising 
an  authority  to  which  reason  and  conscience  must  bow.  But  the 
strong  tendency  of  Unitarians  generally  is  to  consider  him  as  in 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  173 

all  respects  a  man,  though  with  a  spiritual  insight  and  moral 
power  which,  while  really  differing  only  in  degree  from  those 
given  to  all  men,  are  in  degree  so  far  above  those  of  all  other 
men  as  to  set  him  by  himself  in  human  history.  This  inclusion 
in  humanity,  however,  must  not  be  taken  as  degrading  Jesus, 
since  Unitarians  hold  a  higher  conception  of  human  nature  than 
the  Orthodox,  but  as  marking  the  possible  elevation  of  humanity. 
He  is  not  "mere  man,"  but  more  man.  Unitarians  believe  that 
God  was  in  Jesus,  but  that  He  is  in  all  men.  Jesus  at  once  reveals 
God  to  man  and  man  to  himself.  He  glorifies  our  common  human 
nature.  He  teaches  that  love,  fidelity,  patience,  cheerfulness,  are 
divine  qualities,  and  that  the  line  between  divine  and  human, 
which  the  ancient  councils  found  it  so  hard  to  draw  in  the  nature 
of  Jesus,  is  as  uncertain  in  every  earnest  human  soul.  Jesus  is 
not  an  exception,  save  in  degree,  but  a  bright  illustration  of  the 
possibilities  of  human  nature.  Unitarians  therefore  reject  the 
Trinity,  and  all  the  doctrines  which  cluster  about  the  dogma  of 
the  Deity  of  Christ. 

The  atonement  is  considered  by  Unitarians  as  a  natural  process. 
By  his  imperfections  and  sins  man  removes  himself  from  God; 
and  all  good  influences,  including  those  which  flow  from  the  life 
and  character  of  Jesus,  bring  him  back  into  the  divine  likeness, 
and  into  harmony  with  the  divine  will.  The  office  of  Jesus  lies  in 
no  arbitrary  arrangement  with  God  by  which  the  innocent  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  guilty.  All  the  conceptions  of  the  atonement  held 
by  the  Orthodox  seem  to  the  Unitarian  to  subvert  the  fundamental 
principles  of  justice,  to  confuse  the  conscience,  and  to  dishonor 
God.  The  life  and  death  of  Jesus  have  had  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  minds,  hearts,  and  souls  of  men,  but  this  has  come  by 
the  natural  working  of  moral  and  spiritual  laws,  and  in  ways  which 
all  truth  and  goodness  follow  when  they  affect  human  life.  Sal- 
vation is  not  rescue  from  any  external  peril,  but  from  sin  and 
weakness  within.  Holiness  is  wholeness  and  healthiness,  and  is 
accomplished  not  by  means  outside  of  practical  life,  but  by  doing 
justly,  loving  mercy,  and  walking  humbly  with  God  every  day. 
Conversion  may  be  hastened  by  special  influences  or  experiences, 
but  is  more  likely  to  come  gradually.  Not  believing  in  the  essen- 


174  A   STUDY   OF    THE    SECTS. 

tial  depravity  of  human  nature,  Unitarians  do  not  look  for  that 
•complete  revolution  which  the  Orthodox  logically  must  aim  at, 
but  for  a  quiet  and  steady  evolution  of  the  germs  of  truth  and 
goodness  into  such  development  as  is  possible  in  this  life.  They 
therefore  distrust  "revivals." 

The  future  life  Unitarians  consider  a  natural  continuance  of  the 
earthly  life.  Death  is  not  a  moral  crisis,  but  an  event  common  to 
all  living  things,  a  purely  physical  change.  Unitarians  are  very 
reluctant  to  indulge  the  imagination  in  depicting  the  details  of  the 
future  life,  holding  that  life  freed  from  the  body  and  from  the 
circumstances  of  the  earth  is  beyond  our  power  to  conceive  with 
certainty.  But  they  maintain  with  great  firmness  that  the  char- 
acter begins  there  as  it  ends  here,  and  that  the  laws  of  the  moral 
nature,  not  being  conditioned  by  space  or  time,  continue  in  force 
.after  death.  The  Orthodox  division  of  all  men  into  saints  and 
sinners,  "  fixed  in  an  eternal  state,"  they  reject  as  most  unjust  as 
well  as  unwarranted  in  reason.  The  moral  life  will  be  as  varied, 
as  capable  of  progression  and  change,  as  here.  Whether  all  men 
will  reach  perfect  happiness  and  holiness,  is  a  question  which  the 
Unitarian  refuses  to  decide.  The  mystery  of  human  freedom 
must  always  veil  its  future  results.  Nor  can  the  Unitarian  be- 
lieve in  the  "  Judgment "  so  often  pictured  by  the  Orthodox,  an 
arbitrary  decree  by  which  men  are  sent  to  the  right  or  the  left 
according  to  some  other  standard  than  that  of  character.  Each 
soul  will  gravitate  to  its  place  according  to  its  real  condition. 

In  worship,  Unitarians  commonly  preserve  the  simplicity  and 
directness  of  the  Congregationalists,  from  whom  they  have  in  this 
country  descended.  Prayer  is  extemporaneous,  though  a  very  few 
congregations  have  a  liturgy.  There  is  an  increase  in  the  use  of 
antiphonal  psalms ;  and  an  attempt  is  making,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  to  compile  a  book  which 
shall  be  acceptable  to  those  who  wish  a  liturgical  service. 

The  faults  most  frequently  attributed  to  Unitarians, — their 
neglect  of  stated  worship  and  their  ignorance  of  theology,  —  while 
they  are  to  be  admitted  and  deplored  in  some  measure,  follow  natur- 
ally from  that  very  breadth  of  faith  which  has  been  described  as 
their  characteristic,  and  which  it  is  their  privilege  to  hold  and  their 


A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS.  175 

mission  to  teach.  As  all  life  is  seen  to  have  possibilities  of  sacred- 
ness,  and  all  duty  to  be  divine  service,  "  sacred  "  times  and  places 
must  seem  less  important  than  to  those  who  tend  to  concentrate 
sacredness  upon  them.  And  as  all  truth  takes  on  a  divine  aspect, 
opinions  about  historical  and  speculative  matters,  most  of  which 
seem  to  be  of  little  real  use  even  to  those  who  have  most  definite 
views  about  them,  must  retire  more  into  the  background.  While, 
therefore,  the  Unitarian  cannot  afford  to  neglect  any  means  of 
spiritual  culture,  or  any  truth  that  concerns  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  mankind,  he  must  rejoice  in  that  sympathy  with  all  truth,  with 
all  goodness,  and  with  all  earnest  life  which  his  faith  makes  possi- 
ble to  him.  The  Orthodox,  so  the  Unitarian  thinks,  buys  his  devo- 
tion to  sect  and  church  and  definite  creed  at  the  cost  of  breadth 
in  love  and  hospitality  to  truth. 

Statistics.  —  ("  Year-Book  "  of  1891).  There  are  in  this 
country  424  churches  and  459  ministers.  There  are  24  local 
Conferences,  and  the  National  Alliance  of  Unitarian  and  other 
Liberal  Christian  Women  has  75  branches. 

There  are  also  a  Sunday-School  Society,  besides  three  local 
societies  for  the  same  purpose,  a  Temperance  Society,  a  National 
Bureau  of  Unity  Clubs,  several  associations  of  ministers,  etc. 
The  American  Unitarian  Association  received  in  1890-1891 
$54,440,  the  Women's  Alliance  $3,110,  and  the  Sunday-School 
Society  $3,700.  The  Church  Building  Loan  Fund  has  $18,400 
with  which  it  aids  societies  in  the  erection  of  churches.  A 
Unitarian  mission  is  sustained  in  Japan.  There  is  one  nomi- 
nally Unitarian  theological  school,  at  Meadville,  Pa.,  besides  the 
Divinity  School  of  Harvard  University,  which  has  been  made 
unsectarian,  and  devoted  to  the  study  of  theology  as  a  science. 
Another  school  is  contemplated  on  the  Pacific  coast.  There  are 
five  Unitarian  periodicals,  — the  "  Christian  Register,"  of  Boston, 
and  "  Unity,"  of  Chicago  (weekly),  "  Every  Other  Sunday,"  of 
Boston  (fortnightly),  the  "Unitarian"  and  the  "Unitarian 
Review,"  both  of  Boston  (monthly). 

In  England,  there  are  273  churches,  in  Ireland  41,  in  Wales  31, 
in  Scotland  10,  and  in  Australia  3.  There  are  three  theological 
schools  in  the  British  dominions,  —  the  largest,  Manchester  New 


176  A    STUDY   OF   THE    SECTS. 

College,  being  in  Oxford,  England;  and  three  periodicals, 

"The  Christian  Life,"  and  "The  Unitarian  Herald"  (weekly), 
and  "The  Christian  Reformer "  (monthly).  The  denomina- 
tion is  represented  by  « '  The  British  and  Foreign  Unitarian 
Association." 

In  Transylvania  there  are  165  churches,  with  107  pastors  and 
about  60,000  adherents.  They  are  governed  by  a  bishop,  eight 
rural  deans,  and  an  ecclesiastical  council  of  350  members.  They 
have  a  college  at  Koloscvar,  with  a  theological  school,  and  two 
middle  schools. 

There  are  also  thousands  of  professed  or  virtual  Unitarians  in 
Austria,  Germany,  Holland,  France,  Sweden,  and  Switzerland,  and 
many  even  in  Spain. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  the  origin  of  the  name  "Unitarian  "?  How  is  it  now  applied  ? 
What  other  names  have  been  given  to  Unitarians  ?  What  are  they  often 
called  in  this  country  ?  in  England  ?  Why  ? 

How  old  is  Unitarian  ism  ?  What  is  its  relation  to  Judaism  ?  to  the  carry 
training  of  Jesus  and  the  Apostles  ?  What  right  have  we  to  believe  that 
they  retained  it?  that  the  early  Christians  held  it  V  What  was  its  greatest 
contest  with  Trinitarianism  ?  What  was  its  subsequent  fate  ?  When  did 
it  reappear  ?  What  martyrs  to  it  can  you  name  ?  Who  were  its  chief 
leaders  at  the  Reformation  ?  What  views  did  they  hold?  Where  did  Uni- 
tarianism  flourish  then  ?  Where  else  did  it  take  root  ?  Where  is  it  most 
prosperous  to-day  ? 

Who  brought  Unitarianism  to  England  ?  Who  founded  its  first  church  ? 
Who  were  famous  English  Unitarians  ?  From  what  body  did  many  come  ? 
Who  founded  the  denomination  in  England  ?  Who  deserves  mention  next 
after  him  V  What  was  the  position  of  Unitarianism  before  the  law  ?  What 
is  the  condition  of  the  body  now  ?  Where  else  in  British  dominions  has  it 
churches  ? 

Where  did  Unitarianism  begin  in  the  United  States  ?  Into  what  four 
periods  may  it  be  divided  ?  What  years  does  the  first  period  cover  ?  What 
were-  its  chief  events  ?  Who  was  the  leading  spirit  ?  What,  was  the  "  Half- 
way Covenant''?  the  "  Great  Awakening"?  What  was  their  effect? 
What  influence  had  Jonathan  Edwards  in  preparing  the  way  for  Unitarian- 
ism ?  What  faith  was  the  stepping-stone  to  it  ?  Who  was  the  first  minister 
known  to  be  Unitarian  ?  Who  first  published  his  Unitarianism?  What 
was  the  first  Unitarian  church  ?  Why  were  Unitarian  views  not  avowed  at 
first  ?  What  brought  about  the  break  with  the  old  faith  ?  Who  led  it  ? 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  177 

When  and  how  did  it  begin  ?  What  was  the  second  period  ?  What  was 
the  "Dedham  case"?  What  was  the  character  of  the  first  Unitarians? 
What  was  the  third  period?  Who  were  its  leaders?  What  works  pro- 
claimed their  views  ?  What  has  been  their  effect  ?  What  was  the  fourth 
period  ?  Who  was  its  leader  V  What  were  its  chief  events  ?  What  is  the 
condition  of  Unitarianism  in  this  country  to-day  ? 

What  is  the  polity  of  the  American  Unitarians  ?  Into  what  bodies  are 
they  organized  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  the  Association  and  the 
National  Conference  ?  How  do  they  differ  from  a  Presbyterian  synod  ? 
Have  Unitarians  any  common  creed  ?  Why  ?  What  is  the  declaration  of 
the  American  Unitarian  Association  ?  of  the  National  Conference  ?  of  the 
Western  Conference  V  What  are  the  "covenants  "  of  many  churches? 

What  can  you  say  to  the  charge  that  Unitarianism  is  a  mere  negation? 
Why  should  the  Orthodox  think  it  is?  Must  not  all  belief  deny  some- 
thing ?  How  may  Unitarianism  be  broadly  defined  ?  How  does  it  differ 
in  this  from  Orthodoxy  ?  What  fundamental  principle  follows  from  this? 
What  two  principles  does  this  involve  ?  How  are  they  commonly  stated  ? 
What  is  meant  by  "reason  in  religion"?  What  are  the  Unitarian  and 
Orthodox  ideas  of  revelation?  Which  is  the  broader?  Which  honors 
God  the  more  ?  Compare  the  Roman  Catholic,  Orthodox  Protestant,  and 
Unitarian  ideas  on  this  point;  on  physical  miracles.  Where  does  Unita- 
rianism find  God  in  the  universe?  What  is  meant  by  " character  before 
creed  "  ?  Compare  the  Evangelical  and  the  Liberal  views  of  human  nature  ; 
of  "sacred"  times  and  places. 

What  is  the  Unitarian  view  of  the  P>ible?  of  the  Church?  of  Jesus? 
What  is  Arianism?  Ilumanitarianism  ?  What  view  lies  between  these? 
To  which  view  does  Unitarianism  tend  ?  Does  this  view  degrade  Jesus  ? 
Why  is  it  more  repugnant  to  the  Evangelical  view  of  man  than  to  ours  ? 
How  does  Jesifs  elevate  our  idea  of  humanity  ?  Does  the  Unitarian  believe 
that  God  was  in  Jesus?  In  what  sense?  What  is  the  Unitarian  view  of 
the  atonement  ?  of  the  Evangelical  doctrines  about  it  ?  How  have  the  life 
and  death  of  Jesus  affected  humanity?  What  is  the  Unitarian  view  of 
predestination?  of  conversion?  of  the  future  life?  of  death?  of  the  future 
state?  of  the  variety  of  character  hereafter?  of  the  ultimate  fate  of  all 
souls  ?  of  the  "Judgment"  ?  What  is  the  common  form  of  worship  among 
Unitarians  ?  What  exceptions  do  you  know  ? 

Wtiat  are  the  faults  most  frequently  charged  upon  Unitarians  ?  What 
answer  can  you  give  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  best  summary  of  the  general  history  of  Unitarianism  is  the  American 
Unitarian  Association  tract  by  Rev.  R.  R.  Shippen.  E.  H.  Hall's  scholarly 
Orthodoxy  and  Heresy  In  the  Christian  Church  gives  a  fuller  account.  The 

12 


178  A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS. 

best  short  history  of  American  Unitarianism  may  be  found  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  W.  C.  Gaimett's  Life  of  Ezra  Stiles  Gannett.  For  longer 
accounts,  see  Unitarianum:  Its  Origin  and  History  (Charming  Hall  Lectures, 
1888-8^),  J.  H.  Allen's  admirable  Oar  Liberal  Movement',  George  E.  Eilis's 
ffulf  Century  of  the  Unitarian  Controversy  ;  0.  B.  Frothingham's  Boston 
Unitarianism,  1820  to  1850,  and  his  Transcendentalism  in  New  England; 
the  Unity  Club  lectures  of  1890-91.  A  History  of  Religious  Thouyht  and 
Life  in  New  England,  edited  by  George  W.  Cooke,  the  Lives  of  Channing, 
Dewey,  the  Buckminsters,  Parker,  J.  F.  Clarke,  etc. ;  Sprague's  Annals  of 
the  American  Pulpit  (Unitarian  Congregationalists) ;  Dorchester's  Chris- 
tianity in  the  United  States;  Brooke  Herford's  The  Story  of  Religion  in 
England;  and  references  in  ecclesiastical  histories  and  histories  of  doctrine. 
As  to  the  doctrines  of  Unitarians,  good  summaries  are  to  be  found  in  the 
tracts  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association;  but  no  more  beautiful  account 
exists,  especially  to  those  who  can  see  what  is  involved  in  it,  than  Dr.  C  ban- 
ning's  sermon,  Unitarian  Christianity.  See  also  J.  F.  Clarke's  Manual  of 
Unitarian  Belief,  Essentials  and  Non-Essentials  in  Religion,  Common  Sense 
in  Religion,  The  Ideas  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  Vexed,  Questions  in  Theology, 
and  Orthodoxy:  Its  Truths  and  Errors.  The  tendency  of  the  denomination 
is  seen  in  Dr.  Hedge's  Reason  in  Religion  and  his  Ways  of  the  Spirit,  and  still 
more  fully  and  clearly  in  Martineau's  Seat  of  Authority  in  Religion.  The 
works  of  Channing,  Parker,  and  Dewey,  and  the  sermons  of  A.  P.  Peabody, 
J.  H.  Allen,  J.  W.  Chad  wick,  and  M.  J.  Savage  represent  various  schools 
of  thought  within  Unitarianism.  English  Unitarianism  is  stated  in  Unita- 
rian Christianity,  a  volumo  of  sermons  by  several  preachers,  Controversial 
books  are  Norton's  Statement  of  Reasons  for  not  believing  the  Doctrines  of 
Trinitarians  concerning  the  Nature  of  God  and  the  Person  of  Christ, 
Wilson's  Unitarian  Principles  confirmed  by  Trinitarian  Testimonies,  and 
Priestley's  History  of  the  Cwruptions  of  Christianity.  For  books  on  special 
doctrines,  see  references  in  part  ii.  chap.  i.  Mr.  Wendte's  tract  What  do 
Unitarians  believe  ?  has  an  appendix  containing  a  valuable  list  of  celebrated 
men  and  women  who  have  been  Unitarians. 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SECTS.  179 

PART  III. 

SECTS  NOT   CALLING  THEMSELVES  CHRISTIAN. 
1.    THE   SOCIETY   FOR   ETHICAL    CULTURE. 

YEA,  a  man  will  say,  Thou  hast  faith  and  I  have  works  :  shew  me  thy 
faith  apart  from  thy  works,  and  I  by  my  works  will  shew  thee  my  faith.  — 
JAMES  ii.  18. 

What  is  known  as  the  "  Ethical  Movement "  began  with  the 
formation  of  "  The  Society  for  Ethical  Culture"  in  New  York 
city,  in  1876.  Felix  Adler,  the  son  of  a  Jewish  Rabbi  in  New 
York,  and  lecturer  for  a  time  on  the  Oriental  languages  and  litera- 
ture in  Cornell  University,  was  the  founder  of  this  society.  In 
1883  a  similar  society  was  founded  in  Chicago  ;  and  others  arose 
in  Philadelphia  and  St.  Louis  in  1885  and  1886.  In  1887  the 
"  South  Place  Religious  Society"  of  London  became  the  "  South 
Place  Ethical  Society."  The  same  year  witnessed  the  formation 
of  the  "  Union  of  the  Societies  for  Ethical  Culture."  The  aim  of 
the  movement  was  declared  in  the  constitution  of  this  Union  to  be 
44  to  elevate  the  moral  life  of  its  members  and  that  of  the  commu- 
nity ; "  and  it  "  cordially  welcomes  to  its  fellowship  all  persons 
who  sympathize  with  this  aim,  whatever  may  be  their  theological 
or  philosophical  opinions."  The  movement  has  no  creed,  and 
does  not  teach  religion,  if  by  religion  is  meant  a  conception  of 
God.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  not  opposed  to  religion ;  and  its 
members  and  lecturers  are  free  to  take  whatever  religious  standing- 
point  seems  reasonable  to  them.  Some  maintain  that  ethics  is 
religion,  by  which  is  meant  that  genuine  moral  action  is  the 
means  of  connecting  the  finite  soul  with  the  Infinite.  Others  are 
complete  secularists.  The  bond  of  fellowship  does  not  lie  in  a 
special  theological  view  or  theory,  but  in  a  practical  moral  aim. 
Each  society  has  a  lecturer,  or  lecturers,  and  holds  Sunday  meet- 
ings for  at  least  seven  or  eight  months  during  the  year.  Supreme 
attention  is  given  to  various  phases  of  personal  and  social  morality. 
The  movement  has  been  distinguished  from  the  outset  by  devotion, 
both  theoretic  and  practical,  to  social  reform.  A  workingman's 


180  A    STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS. 

school,  district  nursing,  improved  tenement  houses,  neighborhood 
guilds,  a  bureau  of  justice,  economic  conferences  between  business 
men  and  working  men,  workingmen's  self-culture  clubs,  are  out- 
growths and  illustrations  of  its  spirit. 

The  literature  of  the  movement  is  for  the  most  part  in  the  form 
of  pamphlet  lectures;  two  books  have  appeared,  Creed  and  Deed, 
by  Felix  Adler,  1877,  and  Ethical  Religion,  by  William  M.  Salter, 
1889.  Besides  these  are  Die  Religion  der  Moral,  by  Salter,  1885, 
Moralische  Reden,  by  same,  1889,  and  Die  Eihische  Rewegung  in 
der  Religion,  by  Stanton  Coit,  lecturer  of  the  London  Society, 
1890, — all  published  in  Germany.  The  movement  published 
"The  Ethical  Record,"  Philadelphia,  from  April,  1888,  to  July, 
1890;  this  quarterly  has  now  been  enlarged  into  "The  Inter- 
national Journal  of  Ethics"  (Philadelphia  and  London),  Las  Euro- 
pean as  well  as  American  editors  arid  contributors,  and  ceases  to 
be  the  organ  of  the  Ethical  Movement. 


At  their  roots,  the  Ethical  Movement  and  rational  Unitarianism 
are  one.  Both  are  ba<ed  upon  faith  in  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  sense  of  duty,  and  both  aim  at  the  production  of  moral  life. 
The  main  difference  between  them  is  that  Unitarianism  emphasizes 
certain  other  doctrines,  corollaries  of  faith  in  the  moi'al  law,  espe- 
cially a  personal  God  as  the  source  of  righteousness  and  immor- 
tality as  its  quality  or  consequence,  while  the  Ethical  Movement  is 
silent  upon  these  points.  The  Ethical  Societies,  therefore,  omit 
prayer  and  praise  from  their  public  exercises,  retaining  only  the 
sermon  or  "  lecture,"  adding  sometimes  music  and  reading  from  ethi- 
cal writings,  including  the  Bible  ;  and  the  lecture  itself  (lifters  from 
a  Unitarian  sermon  chiefly  in  the  absence  of  reference  to  God  and 
the  future  life,  as  well  as  to  historical  Christianity.  The  Ethical 
teaching  seems  to  us,  therefore,  bare  and  undeveloped,  if  not  weak, 
like  an  unsprouted  root,  —  having  real  religious  life,  but  not  fur- 
nishing food  enough  for  the  practical  needs  of  the  soul.  Belief  in 
God  and  in  an  immortal  opportunity  have  been  considered  necessary 
to  man's  highest  spiritual  life.  To  cut  the  vision  of  the  present 
down  to  humanity,  and  the  vision  of  the  future  to  a  merely  human 
though  developed  career  would  impoverish  human  life.  Nor  can 
we  forget  in  our  admiration  of  the  devotion  of  the  Ethical  Socie- 
ties to  kt  good  works"  that  the  Christian  Church,  both  originally 
and  now,  cannot  be  said  to  have  overlooked  them.  It  no  doubt 
deserves  this  rebuke  to  its  many  idle  speculations,  and  to  its  fre- 
quent absorption  in  merely  contemplative  worship ;  but  it  has  also 


A    STUDY   OF   THE   SECTS.  181 

undertaken  just  as  good  and  successful  works  as  these.  The 
practical  energy  of  the  new  movement  is  itself  the  result  of  a 
general  awakening  of  the  conscience  of  the  age,  which  is  showing 
itself  quite  as  plainly  in  the  churches.  Since,  however,  there  are 
many  earnest  people  in  the. world  who  cannot  receive  what  are 
commonly  called  religious  doctrines,  and  are  not  interested  in 
historical  Christianity,  there  is  a  sphere  for  the  Ethical  Societies 
which  we  wish  them  to  occupy,  and  in  which  we  bid  them  i4  God- 
speed,"—  all  the  more  because  our  knowledge  of  their  leaders 
convinces  us  that  in  the  deepest  and  purest  sense  they  too  are 
religious,  in  .so  /ar,  as  the  text  above  says,  as  they  hold  that 
'*  ethics  is  religion,  by  which  is  meant  that  genuine  moral  action 
is  the  means  of  connecting  the  finite  soul  with  the  Infinite." 
So  far  as  the  command  of  duty  is  seen  to  come  from  a  source 
deeper  than  human  experience  or  knowledge,  it  is  a  command  of 
what  we  call  <l  God." 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  meant  by  the  word  ethical  ?  What  is  the  difference  between 
it  and  moral?  How  did  the  Ethical  Movement  begin  ?  What  societies 
now  exist  ?  How  are  they  combined  ?  What  is  their  object  ?  What  is 
their  relation  to  religion?  What  are  their  leaders  called?  What  public 
exercises  have  the  societies  ?  What  good  works  have  they  undertaken  ? 
What  is  the  main  objection  to  them  from  our  standing-point  ?  What  beliefs 
have  commonly  been  held  of  value  to  human  action  ?  What  have  we  in 
place  of  them  here  ?  Does  the  Ethical  Movement  undertake  anything  which 
churches  may  not  do  ?  What  faults  in  the  churches  does  it  practically  re- 
buke ?  What  room  has  it  in  the  world  ?  How  far  is  it  religious  ?  What 
good  does  religion  do  to  you  ? 


2.  THE    SPIRITUALISTS. 

IN  this  rejoice  not,  that  the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you;  but  rather  rejoice 
because  your  names  are  written  in  heaven.  — LUKE  x.  20. 

IN  the  widest  sense  of  the  word  a  spiritualist  is  the  opposite  of  a 
materialist  ;  that  is,  he  is  one  who  believes  that  spirit,  not  matter, 
is  reality.  In  a  more  restricted  sense  it  was  once  used  to  denote 
those  who  claimed  to  be  under  the  direct  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  the  modern  popular  sense  it  means  those  who  believe 
that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  can  hold  communication  with  the 
living  through  theii  senses. 


182  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

This  belief  is  as  old  as  man ;  for  hardly  a  tribe  of  savages  or 
a  stage  of  human  history  has  been  found  in  which  there  has  not 
been  a  belief  in  the  presence  of  the  souls  of  the  departed  and  in 
their  action  upon  the  living.  Some  have  claimed  that  this  was 
the  beginning  of  religion ;  that  is,  of  any  belief  in  the  super- 
natural. Instances  of  alleged  communication  are  found  throu^h- 
out  sacred  and  secular  history.  But  the  belief  has  found  especial 
acceptance  in  the  United  States,  and  in  the  present  century. 

It  gained  its  most  powerful  stimulus  from  the  experiences  of 
Margaret  and  Kate  Fox,  children  of  twelve  and  nine  years  of  age, 
at  Hydeville,  Wayne  County,  New  York,  in  March,  1848.  Hear- 
ing strange  rappings,  they  established  by  them  communication 
with  alleged  spirits,  by  whose  aid  the  skeleton  of  a  murdered  man 
was  found  in  the  cellar  of  their  house.  The  two  girls  went  about 
the  country  giving  exhibitions  of  the  strange  phenomena,  and 
arousing  great  excitement.  In  1850  Daniel  Dunglas  Home  ap- 
peared with  mysterious  powers,  which  attracted  great  attention  in 
Europe  as  well  as  in  this  country.  Since  then  great  numbers  of 
"mediums"  have  sprung  up,  who  have  done  many  different  kinds 
of  strange  things  by  the  aid,  as  they  claimed,  of  spirits.  In  1875 
Messrs.  Crookes  and  Varley,  well-known  English  men  of  science, 
and  later  the  still  more  celebrated  Alfred  Russell  Wallace,  pro- 
claimed their  belief  in  spiritual  manifestations.  In  one  form  or 
another  Spiritualism  has  a  very  large  following;  but  due  partly  to 
the  fact  that  it  must  be  a  private  and  not  a  public  affair,  as  ordi- 
nary religions  worship  is,  and  partly  to  the  reluctance  of  many  to 
confess  their  belief,  no  estimate  of  the  numbers  of  its  adherents  can 
be  made.  They  are  probably  very  large.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
the  confessed  believers  are  commonly  from  the  more  intelligent 
classes.  The  world  of  science  is  almost  solid  against  them, 
though  it  has  generally  refused  to  investigate. 

As  Spiritualists  are  not  organized,  rarely  even  in  congregations, 
they  have  no  authoritative  creed,  and  differ  more  or  less  in  their 
belief.  There  is,  beyond  doubt,  a  large  number  of  impostors,  who 
play  upon  the  credulity  of  the  ignorant  for  selfish  purposes.  This 
is  admitted  and  deplored  by  Spiritualists  as  well  as  by  others. 
But  that  there  is  also  a  large  number  of  quiet  and  sincere  believ- 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  183 

ers  in  the  reality  and  value  of  communication  with  departed  spirits 
must  not  be  overlooked  by  the  fair-minded. 

These  believe  that  our  spirits,  when  they  leave  our  bodies, 
do  not  undergo  any  essential  change.  Their  characters  and 
tendencies  remain  the  same ;  and  thtre  is  therefore  among  them 
the  same  great  variety  of  goodness  and  wickedness,  wisdom  and 
ignorance,  as  when  they  were  in  the  flesh.  They  are  not  sepa- 
rated, as  the  old  theology  maintained,  into  the  perfectly  good  and 
the  perfectly  wicked.  Nor  is  their  condition  fixed.  Progress  is 
open  to  them  under  the  new  influences,  as  well  as  under  the  con- 
tinued influence  of  the  better  spirits ;  and  the  occupations  and 
duties  entrusted  to  them  in  the  "  spirit-land  "  correspond  to  their 
fitness  for  them.  But  they  retain  their  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
earth,  and  seek  to  take  part  in  them,  especially  in  those  of  the 
persons  whom  they  knew  in  the  body.  The  good  spirits  wi?h  them 
well,  and  try  to  warn,  console,  advise,  and  guide  them.  The  evil 
spirits  maliciously  misinform,  misdirect,  and  corrupt  them,  if  they 
can. 

There  is  a  state,  called  "sensitiveness/'  in  which  it  is  possible 
for  mortals  to  perceive  the  presence  of  the  spirits,  and  to  commu- 
nicate with  them.  It  is,  as  it  were,  a  new  sense,  —  "  the  heritage 
of  all,  yet  manifested  only  at  rare  intervals  by  favored  individuals. 
...  It  is  a  faculty  pertaining  to  the  spiritual  nature,  and  is  acute 
in  proportion  as  that  spiritual  nature  dominates  the  physical 
senses.  ...  It  is  variable  in  the  same  individual;  is  often  the 
result  of  drugs,  of  fatigue,  of  sleep;  and  may  be  induced  or 
intensified  by  hypnotism  or  mesmerism.  ...  It  may  have  all 
degrees, of  acuteness,  from  impressibility  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  the  individual's  own  thoughts  to  the  purest  independent 
clairvoyance."  Those  who  are  "  sensitive"  to  an  unusual  degree 
are  called  "  mediums,"  as  having  an  intermediate  relation  between 
the  dead  and  the  living. 

The  character  of  the  spirits  thus  communicating  will  vary, 
partly  according  to  the  personal  character  of  the  medium,  and 
partly  according  to  his  sensitiveness.  Spirits,  out  of  the  body  as 
in  it,  seek  their  like.  The  evil  spirits  are  also  fond  of  playing 
tricks.  Others  are  innocently  roguish.  Not  all  communications, 


184  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SECTS. 

therefore,  are  valuable,  any  more  than  all  words  of  mortals.  The 
closeness  of  relationship  with  the  spirits  has  also  increased  with 
the  increasing  sensitiveness  of  the  mediums,  which  grows,  like 
any  other  endowment,  by  cultivation  and  practice.  Beginning 
with  crude  forms,  as  rappings  and  table-tippin<rs,  it  has  gone  on 
through  writing,  the  direct  touch,  speech,  clairvoyance,  clairaudi- 
ence,  "materialization"  or  the  assumption  of  human  and  other 
physical  forms,  to  the  seeming  presence  of  the  dead  in  their 
former  shape,  in  broad  daylight,  and  in  every  respect  as  real  as 
when  in  the  flesh,  yet  with  added  powers  of  appearance  and  dis- 
appearance which  belong  only  to  incorporeal  beings.  Spiritualists 
believe  that  only  the  development  of  sensitiveness  is  needed  to 
make  the  spirit  world  capable  of  immense  service  to  mankind, 
bringing  ever  higher  classes  of  beings  to  its  aid. 

Spiritualists  vary  very  much  in  other  points  of  belief.  Some 
make  their  confidence  in  spirit  communications  an  addition  to  and 
explanation  of  much  of  Christianity,  though  they  adopt  a  liberal 
form  of  that  religion.  To  them  Spiritualism  explains  much  that 
seems  strange  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  history  of  religion, — the 
appearance  of  angels ;  the  inspiration  of  prophets,  psalmists,  and 
other  writers  of  Scripture ;  the  miracles  ;  the  evil  spirits  of  the 
New  Testament;  the  vision  of  Moses  and  Elias  in  the  Transfigura- 
tion ;  the  saints  coming  from  their  graves  at  the  Crucifixion ;  the 
re-appearance  of  Jesus ;  the  alleged  visions  of  the  saints  in 
Church  history,  etc.  The  strange  facts  of  mesmerism,  trances, 
hypnotism,  dreams,  the  visions  of  the  dying,  premonitions,  tele- 
pathy, and  many  such  phenomena,  which  have  long  puzzled  the 
minds  of  men,  to  them  come  under  the  head  of  " spiritual"  action. 
Some  interpret  prayer  as  communion  not  with  God  directly,  but 
with  spirits  who  bear  the  message  to  Him.  Others,  however, 
begin  and  end  their  real  religion  with  the  alleged  facts  of  spirit- 
ualism. The  spirits  are  the  only  superhuman  beings  they  believe 
in  or  have  anything  to  do  with.  All  else  is  unreal  or  unpractical. 


The  difficulty  with  Spiritualism  is  that,  like  all  miracles,  visions, 
etc.,  it  rests  upon  individual  testimony.  If  a  fact  at  all,  it  is  a 
fact  usually  of  individual  experience.  But  all  scientific  invest!- 


A   STUDY   OP   THE   SECTS.  185 

cration  of  human  testimony  has  shown  that  it  is  never  so  unre- 
liable as  when  dealing  with  the  alleged  supernatural.  So  far 
from  the  senses  being  trustworthy  (>k  seeing  is  believing"  etc.), 
they  are  at  times,  especially  when  strange  things  are  expected  or 
feared,  exceedingly  treacherous.  The  history  of  religion  shows 
this.  In  such  circumstances  it  is  not  the  senses  which  give  infor- 
mation to  the  mind,  but  the  mind  which  dictates  to  the  senses 
what  they  shall  see,  feel,  etc.  The  more  ignorant  and  uncritical 
the  age,  the  more  abundant  are  its  '"miracles;"  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  the  mind.  However  well  informed  and  critical  on 
other  points,  if  inexperienced  in  dealing  with  the  u  supernatural," 
it  is  utterly  untrustworthy  ;  and  it  often  happens  that  the  most 
intellectual  and  sceptical  are  most  easily  deceived  or  self-deceived. 

This  consideration  must  be  added  to  the  universally  admitted 
mass  of  imposture  and  gross  delusion.  The  honesty  of  no  man 
is  necessarily  impugned  by  doubting  that  he  has  seen  or  heard 
what  he  is  firmly  convinced  he  has.  Let  him  read  the  scientific 
works  named  below.  There  is  an  admitted  body  of  facts  which 
have  not  yet  been  reduced  to  the  categories  either  of  imposture 
or  of  illusion.  Their  causes  are  not  known;  and  the  wi*e  man 
is  slow  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  them.  But  the  hypothesis 
of  "spiritual"  influence  has  not  been  established;  and  by  the 
laws  of  evidence  no  such  hypothesis  is  admissible  till  all  natural 
causes,  such  as  strange  powers  of  the  human  mind,  have  been 
definitely  set  aside.  Such  facts  belong  to  the  realm  of  mystery. 

As  to  the  direct  value  of  Spiritualism,  the  most  ardent  believer 
must  admit  that  it  is  rather  hoped  for  from  future  developments 
than  realized  from  anything  yet  attained.  It  has  added  nothing 
reliable  as  to  the  future  world,  and  nothing  valuable  as  to  the 
practical  affairs  of  the  present  world.  Whatever  the  "  spirits  " 
know  of  either,  they  have  told  nothing  yet  which  the  unaided 
human  intellect  or  imagination  could  not  have  attained.  On  the 
contrary,  Spiritualism  has  often  done  great  harm.  It  would  be 
unfair  to  quote  the  immoralities  which  have  been  stimulated  by  im- 
postors or  even  by  ignorant  and  coarse  believers.  But  it  is  not 
uncommon  to  see  that  Spiritualism  so  inflames  the  imagination 
that  it  dulls  interest  in  the  affairs  of  this  world,  and  leads  to  a 
restless  and  useless  idleness,  for  which  nothing  but  a  feverish 
curiosity  as  to  the  uncanny  phenomena  of  the  "seance  "  seems  to 
have  any  attraction.  And  where  Spiritualism  is  the  sole  religion, 
it  is  generally  a  low  one,  tending  to  the  "  animism  "  of  the  savage 
state,  lacking  in  height,  breadth,  or  grandeur  of  any  kind.  Spirits 
but  a  little  above  the  human  condition  cannot  be  so  exclusively 
dealt  with  to  any  great  benefit  of  the  soul. 

Yet  on  the  other  hand  it  may  be  said  that  Spiritualism,  where 
it  exists  as  a  part  of  a  wider  and  higher  religion,  has  often  brought 


186  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

inexpressible  comfort  to  its  believers.  It  has  assured  them  of  the 
continued  existence  of  their  dead,  and  has  seemed  to  prolong 
pure  and  elevating  intercourse  with  them.  In  an  age  when  the 
historic  proofs  of  immortality  have  become  to  many  incredible, 
this  has  taken  their  place.  Moreover,  it  has  allied  itself  with 
more  rational  phases  of  theology  in  profoundly  changing  the 
popular  ideas  of  the  future  life.  That  the  dead  are  "  fixed  in  an 
eternal  state"  or  "done  with  all  below,"  that  the  good  cannot  be 
better  themselves  or  exercise  that  pity  and  love  which  were  their 
marks  here  in  helping  the  sinful  and  miserable  hereafter,  that  the 
evil  are  tormented  with  a  useless  eternal  punishment,  —  are  be- 
liefs destined  to  pass  away ;  and  in  this  blessed  change  Spiritualism 
has  played  an  important  part. 

QUESTIONS. 

What  is  a  Spiritualist  ?  How  old  is  the  belief  in  spirits  ?  Where  and 
how  did  it  revive  in  our  day  ?  How  has  it  continued  ?  Who  have  been 
distinguished  adherents  of  it  ?  What  sort  of  a  following  has  it?  Have 
they  a  formal  creed?  Why  V  Are  they  all  sincere  ?  What  do  they  hold 
as  to  the  condition  of  spirits  after  death  ?  How  do  they  differ  here  from  the 
popular  theology  ?  Are  the  spirits  fixed  or  changeable  V  What  is  their 
relation  to  men  ?  What  is  "  sensitiveness  "  ?  a  "  medium  "  ?  What  affects 
the  character  of  communications  ?  Are  they  all  reliable  ?  What  progress 
has  been  made  in  them  V  What  varieties  have  you  ever  heard  of  ?  What 
is  the  hope  of  Spiritualism  ?  What  is  its  attitude  toward  religion  ?  How 
does  it  interpret  Christian  history? 

What  is  the  mam  difficulty  with  Spiritualism  ?  What  has  experience 
shown  as  to  the  testimony  of  the  senses  ?  What  kind  of  an  age  or  mind 
sees  most  "miracles"  ?  What  of  the  educated  mind?  Does  this  impugn 
the  honesty  of  testimony  ?  Are  all  such  facts  known  to  be  delusions  ? 
What  has  Spiritualism  done  for  man  directly  ?  What  has  been  its  effect 
often  upon  the  ignorant  ?  As  a  man's  only  religion,  what  is  its  grade  ?  What 
good  has  it  done  ? 

REFERENCES. 

The  history  is  minutely  given  in  Emma  Hardinge's  Modern  American 
Sjnntuallsm.  The  higher  doctrine  is  set  forth  in  Spirit  Teachings,  by 
M.  A.  Oxon,  The  testimony  of  scientists  may  be  found  in  A.  R.  Wallace's 
On  Miracles  and  Modern  Spiritualism  and  Crookes'  Researches  In  the  Phe- 
nomena of  Spiritualism.  Robert  Dale  Owen  in  the  Introduction  to  The 
Debatable  Land  between  this  World  and  the  Next  has  an  interesting  appeal 
to  the  Protestant  clergy,  and  in  this  book  and  Footfalls  on  the  Boundary  of 
Another  World  masses  many  strange  testimonies.  Other  noted  books  are 


A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS.  187 

I).  D.  Home's  Incidents  in  my  Life ;  Hudson  Tuttle's  Studies  in  Psychical 
Science;  and  Light  on  the  Hidden  Way,  with  Introduction  by  James 
Freeman  Clarke. 

Against  Spiritualism,  see  W.  A.  Hammond's  Spiritualism  and  Nervous 
Derangement;  Edward  H.  Clarke's  Visions;  VV.  B.  Carpenter's  Mental 
Physiology;  Lecky's  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,  chap.  i. ;  and  C.  W. 
Upham's  Salem  Witchcraft.  Interesting  are  Howells's  novel,  Tim  Undis- 
covered Country  ;  Besant's  flerr  Paulas;  Quincy's  Ptcksttr  Professorship; 
and  Browning's  poem,  Sludye,  the  Medium. 


3.  THE   MORMONS. 

THE  name  adopted  by  the  Mormons  themselves  is  "  The  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints."  The  name  "  Mormon  "  was 
transferred  in  popular  speech  from  the  ancient  author  or  compiler 
of  the  sacred  books.  The  claim  is  that  in  600  B.  c.  a  colony  from 
Jerusalem  landed  on  the  coast  of  Chili.  A  division  as  to  the 
leadership  caused  the  rebellious  elder  brothers  and  their  adherents 
to  have  dark  skins  and  to  be  an  idle  and  worthless  race.  Hence 
the  North  American  Indians.  Between  them  and  the  descend- 
ants of  the  divinely  appointed  younger  son  raged  perpetual  war, 
in  which  at  last  the  former  were  victorious  in  384  A.  D.  in  New 
York  State.  Mormon,  one  of  the  survivors,  collected  the  records 
in  sixteen  volumes  and  buried  them.  They  were  found  by  one 
Joseph  Smith  in  1823  under  angelic  guidance,  and  became  the 
foundation  of  the  new  religion.  It  is  now  known  that  they 
were  written  by  a  half-crazy  preacher,  in  1812,  as  an  historical 
romance. 

The  new  sect  was  organized  in  1830  at  Fayette,  New  York,  but 
soon  transferred  to  Ohio.  Here  Brigharn  Young,  a  man  of  power 
and  genius,  became  their  elder  in  1832.  Driven  away  by  their 
scandalized  neighbors,  who  had  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  State,  they 
founded  the  city  of  Nauvoo,  in  Illinois.  Here  in  1843  a  revelation 
enjoined  the  practice  of  polygamy,  and  a  most  toilsome  and  peril- 
ous emigration  to  Utah  followed,  where  Salt  Lake  City  was 
founded  in  1847,  and  a  State  soon  after  named  "Deseret."  Con- 
flict arose  at  once  between  the  Mormons  and  the  United  States 


188  A    STUDY    OF   THE    SECTS. 

authorities,  which  has  continued,  often  with  bloodshed,  to  the 
present  time.  It  is  now  hoped  that  by  the  increase  in  the  4t  Gen- 
tile" population  and  the  active  efforts  of  the  Christian  missionaries 
the  sect  may  be  shorn  of  its  political  power,  if  not  driven  out  of 
the  country,  and  perhaps  gradually  obliterated.  They  are,  how- 
ever, still  numerous  and  powerful,  numbering  in  Utah  110,000, 
and  in  Idaho,  Colorado,  Montana,  Wyoming,  Washington,  and 
England  to  140,000  more.  They  threaten  to  control  Nevada. 
They  are  very  active  in  missionary  work,  especially  among  the 
poorer  classes  of  England  and  Scandinavia.  A  secession  took 
place,  in  1851,  of  the  "Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-Day  Saints,"  in  the  old  temple  in  Ohio.  They  repudiated 
Young,  vested  the  presidency  in  Joseph  Smith's  descendants,  and 
threw  off'  polygamy  and  some  minor  tenets.  They  also  have  been 
active  missionaries. 

The  belief  of  the  Mormons  is  a  singular  product  of  modern 
superstition  and  fanaticism,  working  on  certain  texts  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. They  hold  to  the  Bible  as  authority,  but  believe  in  a  con- 
tinual process  of  revelation  through  the  prophet,  who  is  the  head 
of  the  Church.  Additional  revelations  are  embodied  in  the  "Book 
of  Mormon  "  and  the  "  Book  of  Doctrine."  The  Mormans  are  in  a 
sense  polytheists,  believing  in  a  system  of  gods,  all  of  whom  were 
at  one  time  men.  Their  belief  about  them  is  in  confusion,  and  no 
satisfactory  statement  can  be  made  from  conflicting  accounts  and 
sermons.  The  most  characteristic  features- are  the  doctrines  that 
all  men  may  rise  to  be  gods,  but  will  retain  their  human  forms  and 
functions,  and  that  the  polygamous  relation  is  carried  throughout 
the  divine  hierarchy.  From  the  gods  and  their  numerous  wives 
are  born  innumerable  spirits  who  take  possession  of  human  bodies 
at  the  birth  of  the  latter  and  begin  thus  their  ascent  to  divinity. 
The  father  of  these  children  becomes  the  head  of  this  family  of 
spirits  hereafter,  and  his  power  will  depend  upon  their  number. 
Hence  polygamy,  though  not  an  original,  becomes  a  natural  part 
of  the  system.  The  welfare  of  woman  hereafter  also  depends 
upon  her  union  with  some  one  of  the  "  saints." 

There  is  also  a  sort  of  Trinity,  —  God  and  Christ  being  clothed 
with  human  bodies,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  being  omnipresent,  though 


A    STUDY    OP   THE    SECTS.  189 

a  material  substance.  Men  are  saved  through  the  atonement  made 
by  Christ,  on  condition  of  their  faith  in  the  Church,  repentance, 
baptism,  and  having  the  hands  of  the  apostles  laid  on  them  to  give 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Baptism  is  by  immersion,  but  only  after  the 
eighth  year. of  age.  Water  is  used  at  the  communion  in  place  of 
wine.  In  the  future  state,  not  only  the  body,  but  the  habits,  occu- 
pations, and  necessities  of  the  human  state  will  be  continued. 
Unbelievers  will  be  burned  with  fire  ;  but  departed  saints  have 
preached  the  true  faith  in  Hades,  and  any  believer  here  may  be 
baptized  for  any  of  his  dead  family  or  friends.  The  gifts  of  Apos- 
tolic days  are  continued. — as  prophecy,  miracles,  tongues,  etc. 
Christ  is  to  return  in  person,  gather  Israel,  including  the  lost  Ten 
Tribes,  to  a  Ziou  on  this  continent,  reign  for  a  thousand  years, 
and  then  hold  final  judgment.  The  Mormons  are  strenuous  for 
total  abstinence  from  fermented  liquors  and  tobacco;  restore  the 
Hebrew  custom  of  paying  tithes  or  tenths  of  all  produce  and 
profit  to  the  priesthood ;  and  believe  in  dancing,  as  of  old,  as  a 
religious  rit^ 

Their  organization  is  firm  and  complete.  At  its  head  are 
three  presidents,  of  whom  one  is  supreme,  and  the  others  his 
counsellors ;  a  patriarch  who  gives  blessings ;  the  twelve  apostles, 
under  whom  the  seventies  act  as  missionaries  and  preachers ; 
high-priests,  bishops  or  secular  overseers,  etc.  The  subjection 
of  the  people  to  these  officers  is  complete,  and  they  evidently 
believe,  as  they  are  taught,  that  this  government  is  divinely 
established,  and  that  all  other  governments  are  illegal  and  re- 
bellious. Their  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  their  religion  have 
often  been  pathetic 

QUESTIONS. 

Whence  came  the  name  Mormon  .'  Wnat  is  the  legal  name  ?  What  is 
the  story  of  Mormon  ?  What  was  the  real  origin  of  the  sacred  records  ? 
When  and  where  was  the  sect  organized  ?  Who  has  been  their  greatest 
leader  ?  What  has  been  the  bearing  of  the  world  toward  them  ?  Where  do 
they  now  live?  What  has  been  the  relation  between  them  and  the  United 
States  government  V  Has  that  government  the  right  to  prohibit  a  religious 
practice  ?  Why  has  it  the  right  to  interfere  with  the  Mormons?  How 
numerous  are  they  ?  Where  do  they  abound  ?  Where  do  they  get  their 


190  A    STUDY    OF    THE    SECTS. 

recruits  ?     What  other  body  of  Mormons  is  there,  and  how  do  they  differ 
from  the  main  sect  ? 

What  are  their  standards  of  doctrine  ?  Did  any  prominent  charac- 
ters of  the  Bible  practice  polygamy  (Gen  xvi.  3;  xxv.  1;  xxviii.  9; 
xxix<  27,  28;  1  Chron.  xi.  3)  ?  Why,  then,  should  it  be  condemned 
in  the  Mormons  ?  Was  it  an  original  doctrine  among  them  V  What 
advantage  has  polygamy  to  men  according  to  Mormon  ism  ?  To  women  V 
What  do  they  believe  concerning  God  ?  What  does  Gen.  i.  27  mean  ? 
Were  not  many  of  the  classic  gods  once  men  V  What  is  the  Mor- 
mon Trinity  ?  How  are  men  saved  ?  How  do  Mormons  baptize  ?  What 
do  they  believe  concerning  the  future  state  ?  Where  did  they  get  their  idea 
of  baptizing  for  the  dead  (1  Cor.  xv.  29)  V  Are  they  Adventists  V  What 
other  peculiarities  can  you  recall  ?  What  is  their  organization  ?  What  is 
the  spirit  of  the  laity  toward  the  Church  ?  Do  you  see  anything  to  approve 
in  the  Mormon  system  V  What  truth  is  there  in  their  idea  of  a  continued 
revelation  ?  In  men  growing  to  be  gods  ?  How  far  is  God  human  ?  Ho\r 
far  is  the  custom  of  taking  isolated  texts  from  the  Bible  as  a  basis  of  doc- 
trine to  blame  for  their  vagaries  V  Or  taking  texts  literally  ?  Why  is  not 
the  Mormon  justified  in  taking  Luke  xviii.  29  so  ?  Do  you  think  Mormon- 
ism  likely  to  increase  V  Why  ? 

REFERENCES. 

A  bibliography  may  be  found  in  the  History  of  Utah,  by  H.  H.  Ban- 
croft; Buok  of  Mormon,  Orson  Pratt's  edition,  1881;  Boole  oj  Doctrine  and 
Covenant,  Orson  Pratt's  edition,  1880.  A  long  and  impartial  account 
in  McClintock  ;  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  (once  a  Mormon),  Rocky  Mountain 
Saints;  New  America,  by  W.  Hepworth  Dixon. 


THE   END. 


14  DAY  USE 

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